The Game of Life
by Lynn79
Summary: Rory's and Logan's life after graduation. With a wedding on the way, a secret identity, work, and friends how will the couple get through it all. Rated M for a FEW sexual situations [Rogan]
1. Another Blindfold

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

--

It was the night before Rory's graduation from Yale and she sat anxiously in her apartment waiting for him. _'Be ready by 6:30,'_ he said,_ 'don't be late,'_ he said, and yet here it was 6:43 and HE was no where to be found. It had been his idea to celebrate with her on graduation eve because, as he explained, he knew she would want to spend tomorrow with her family. She loved him for that, knowing her graduation was almost as important and exciting for her family, as it was for her, but yet he was no where to be found, and she was becoming annoyed. She had been truly looking forward to celebrating this with him, he saw what she went through to get here: long nights studying, screaming at her computer when it crashed, random urges to kill the YDN staff, threatening the line in her way of getting coffee...

'Where is he?...Ahhhhh...he has until 6:50, and then I'm back in my pajamas on the couch watching _Out Cold_, wait, no, bad choice, you know it will only remind you of him in college: silly pranks, crazy beer induced adventures...dammit better make it _Empire Records_, yeah that will work…' she rambled to herself.

Just as she was mentally debating the benefits of moose tracks versus rocky road for the movie, there was a knock at the door… 'FINALLY!'…She quickly composed herself and walked over to open the door. When she did, she was surprised to see Finn and Colin standing there silently holding nothing but a blind fold.

"NO!" she quickly exclaimed, "I am not, repeat AM NOT, putting that on! First he's late, well you're late, but you are here in lieu of him so he gets the blame. Second, if he thinks I would put that on for a night that is suppose to be celebrating MY graduation I'm calling the men in the white coats, and they can go with you and take Logan away to the fun place with the soft walls. Every time I put one of those on I end up in some situation that he knows damn well I don't want to be in and then talks me into doing whatever crazy thing you all have planned anyways. Tonight, for once, I was hoping that he would plan an evening I would enjoy, but no, he sends you assuming I will let you whisk me away into the night."

Finn and Colin exchanged glances. Just as she looked like she was getting a second wind, Finn jumped in, "Love, is now the a good time or a bad time to inform you that our dear friend, aka your boyfriend, was worried you may resist and told us to use any means we deem necessary to get you to the location?" Rory gave no response, but shot him a glare.

"And, may I ask that you not tell Logan about our being late, he threatened to get Steph to withhold sex from me for a month and to pay off Finn's favorite bar so they refuse to serve him," added Colin.

"I won't tell Logan, but my silence comes at its own price. Fine, I'll put the blindfold on in the car, lets go…" she said, still annoyed, but inwardly laughing at the threats Logan gave his friends.

Finn, Colin, and Rory got into the SUV where she, after much whining, put on the blindfold before they began the drive.

The car was silent so Rory started talking, "So Colin, how exactly does Logan think he has the power to control your sex life?"

"I'm not entirely sure. All I know is when he made the threat I laughed at him saying he doesn't have that much power. He then leaned forward whispered something into Steph's ear to which she gasped and looked at me and asked how important our intimacy is in our relationship."

"Huh…" she replied, and they fell into silence as they drove until the car finally stopped.

--

Finn opened the door, helped Rory out, and then gave her some instructions, "Now, my dear sweet reporter girl, I know you like to snoop around the unknown, but pretty please with a cherry on top remain where you are and do not take off your blindfold," he chided in a voice thick with false sweetness, before turning to Colin and asking, "What am I forgetting?"

"Uhhhh...oh yeah Logan wanted us to remind you that patience is a virtue."

"What if I have no, nor want, any virtue?"

"I think it's time to leave, have fun love!" Finn exclaimed avoiding the question and hopping back into the car with Colin before speeding off.

As Logan looked on, he wondered how long he should leave her standing there.

Rory was left to her thoughts, 'Where am I? He cannot seriously think this is how I want to spend my evening. And Logan, where is he? What if something happens while I'm waiting for him to show up…No, this is Logan, he's always protective of you. So how can he be sure I'm safe now that tweedle dee and tweedle dum left…because you idiot, you have a blindfold on, he's watching you…'

"Logan, I swear you better come and lead me to where ever it is we are going!" 'No response,' she thought, 'maybe I need to try a different angle.'

"Loooooooooooooooogan, please come protect me from the scary monsters," she tried in a teasing childish voice…silence.

"Okay seriously Logan, are you there because I'm really starting to get creeped out. I mean Finn and Colin were all cryptic and unusually quiet on the ride here. And what is with the blindfold? Normally when you make me wear this thing someone waits until you show up…" her voice becoming more unsure as her nerves show through.

Logan decided to speak up, "Now Ace, would I let something happen to you?" He waited for a response, but she gave none. He realized that she was starting to get into her stubborn mood, something he blamed on her being a Lorelai, so he tried to goad her. "What happened to following the advice I gave you? Patience is a virtue?"

That worked, she had to respond, "But nothing said that being patient, which you are well aware is not a strong point of mine, should be applied to waiting for you while blindfolded. It could be for any point in the evening, you should be less ambiguous with your instructions. The more descriptive they are, the more closely they will be followed."

"I'll remember that for work in the future." He walked up to her and placed his hand on her hips before leaning in to give her a brief kiss, "You look beautiful"

She sighed, "I knew you wouldn't let anything happen to me."

He gave a short laugh. "Let's continue with our evening," and began guiding her in front of him as he walked her to their destination. He reached the stairs and picked her up to carry her up the three steps before placing her back down and leading her inside. He walked her over to a chair and had her sit on it before he removed the blindfold. In front of her appeared to be gourmet meal. She raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I wanted to take you out to a nice dinner, but I always feel like people are listening to you talk so I decided why not bring the dinner to us in a quiet and secluded spot."

At this comment, Rory finally looked around and took in her surroundings. She was in a small, but nice, dining room. She looked out the window and all she could see were densely packed trees set a short distance from the house. Then she noticed the walls, they were all made of wood, including the floor and ceiling. "Logan where are we?"

At first, it looked like he may not answer, but he didn't want her to start getting frustrated with him so he answered honestly, "We are on one of Colin's family properties in a cabin they have. You've been here before, well not exactly here, the other end of the property is where we held the first LDB event you attended."

"So the owner of the property did know you were there?"

He smiled at her, "Of course"

"It's beautiful, I love it."

"I thought you would."

They began their meal in a comfortable silence and exchanged some brief conversation while they ate before walking into the living room where there was a fire going. Logan lay on the couch and pulled Rory down with him. She lay with her head on his chest, and as he stroked her hair, they both seemed lost in their thoughts gazing into the fire.

Logan was the one to break the silence, "There was a reason I wanted to be able to talk to you without being over heard."

"Intrigue."

"I want to talk about us, about the status of our relationship."

At those words, Logan could feel Rory's entire body tense up before she jumped off of him and stared straight into his eyes, on the verge of tears with disbelief. Logan was confused, thought to himself, 'Why is she about to cry?' so he slowly stood up. As he did, he came to a realization, 'You are an idiot Huntzburger, those are the words you never wanted to hear her say,' so he placed his arms around her, held her close, and kissed her forehead. He slowly sat her back down on the couch before sitting on the coffee table across from her, all the while holding her hands. 'Breath Logan…remember to breath,' he reminded himself which was difficult for him until he looked into her eyes. He gave a small smile and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Ace, please don't cry," he said, and then lifted her hand to place a kiss on her palm. At this, she seemed to calm a bit, and her body relaxed, but the tears were still about to fall, so he continued.

"I wasn't sure how to do this, I've never done this before you know. But that's why were so good together, we both get each other to do things we never thought possible. You never thought you would take big risks, do things without a full pro con list, but look at the LDB. You jumped that first time, and you've done other stunts since. And look at me, I never thought I would be a boyfriend, let alone be any good at it, but I did it. Now, I'm about to do something else I never would have thought. I just…"

He was cut off by Rory, "Logan you're rambling. Clearly, a sign I've had more than one effect on you." She gave him a strained smile, but it was enough that a wave of calm passed over him.

"I love you Ace, more than you will ever know." He moved down onto the floor in front of her and noticed that while the tears still seemed to be there, her face now held a look of confusion. Looking directly at her he pushed on, "Rory, I want nothing more than for you to become my wife, so I ask you: Lorelai Leigh Gilmore will you marry me?"

At these words, he drew a ring box out from his pocket and opened it. Inside was a large, but not gaudy, round diamond set on a ribbon shaped diamond-encrusted platinum band that Logan had chosen. When he saw it, he knew it was the one, 'beautiful and elegant, just like my Ace.' He bought it that day and had it engraved to say: _My Ace Always and Forever. I Love You, Logan._

Rory looked down at the ring, and her brain started a mental freak out, 'Oh my god! I can't believe I was nervous; this is the best moment of my life. Oh my god! Look at that ring.' She realized she was staring and looked back at Logan, remembering she had yet to respond, so she nodded her head and tried to say yes, but no words came out. He placed the ring on her finger and leaned up to catch her lips in a simple, yet passionate, kiss. That was when the tears finally spilled. She held onto him tightly and whispered, "I love you too." They remained in each others arms equally excited about what just happened and what was to come.

_--_

_A/N: This story will more be focusing on how they deal with the real world (jobs, etc.), but I wanted them to be engaged when it all started and just couldn't leave that part out. The next chapter will be more telling as to where the story is going, so please stay tuned! _

_Also this is my first fic and I would love any feedback._


	2. Meet Ella Danes

_Disclaimer: I own nothing (i know I forgot to include it last chapter) _

--

Some time later, after the realization had sunken in, Logan leaned down and gave Rory another passion-filled kiss. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening it, all the while conveying their love, commitment and joy to each other. Before things went too far, Logan stood up, taking Rory with him, and led her to the bedroom in the back of the cabin.

Once there, he laid her gently on the bed before stripping down to his boxers. He climbed on the bed, hovering over her, and kissed her softly. He moved down to her neck and collarbone leaving a trail of butterfly kisses in his path. When he reached her dress, his hands lifted her slightly off the bed, and he undid the zipper before letting her lay back down. He moved the straps off her shoulders and pulled her dress down so the top was gathered near her waist. His mouth continued down her chest to the valley between her breasts, and he undid her bra, exposing her. He moved the path left, and once he reached its peak, blew lightly before placing another light kiss on it. He moved his trail to the right and repeated the process before continuing south on her body. He again reached the pile of cloth that was her dress, and she pushed up her hips as he removed it completely taking her lace panties with it. He resumed his path down the center of her body until he reached her core.

Between her emotions running high, the care he was showing her, and his kisses, he found her to be extremely wet. He barely dipped his tongue into her before tracing his tongue upward over the path he had just created, flicking it gently over each nub he passed. When he reached her lips, he kissed her again and could hear her short breaths. Seeing how quickly she had responded to him, he sat back, removed his boxers, and covered his own arousal with a condom.

He leaned back over her bracing himself with one hand while using the other to cup her cheek. He slowly ran his thumb across her lips as he simultaneously entered her body at the same pace. Leaving his hand on her face, but moving his thumb to caress her cheek instead of her lips, he again placed a small kiss on her lips as he began to thrust in and out of her at an excruciatingly slow pace. She attempted to deepen the kiss and quicken his pace, but he wouldn't let her. Instead he leaned to her ear and whispered, "I love you Ace, now relax."

He continued his slow torture while looking deep into her eyes. When he heard her breathing become even shorter and the moans begin to escape her lips, he realized how close she was getting. Determined to maintain the pace, he leaned his body further over her to increase her stimulation, and he felt her begin to contract around him and finally pour out her release. It was the most intimate experience they had ever shared, and it was the most intense orgasm of her life.

As her body calmed down, she saw the need on Logan's face and again attempted to deepen the kiss. This time, he complied and also quickened his pace. His eyes closed, and he focused on the feeling of her clamped around him and the friction created by his steady rhythm. It was not long before his deep thrusts sent her falling over the edge for the second time, only this time he was falling with her. They screamed out their release together, as he slowed down his rhythm until the shuttering subsided.

He collapsed next to her, and she buried her face into his neck, while both try to gain control of their breathing. Finally, they had calmed down, and he got off the bed to clean himself off before returning to her side. He gathered her up in his arms and held her close. Soon, sleep began to overtake them.

She kissed the side of his neck and whispered, "Love you."

He smiled down at her and ran his fingers through her hair, replying, "Love you too."

Within minutes, they were both asleep.

--

Rory was the first to wake a few hours later. She looked over at her boyfriend, 'No he's your fiancé. You are going to be Lorelai Leigh Gilmore Huntzberger, or Rory Huntzberger, or Mrs. Huntzberger…' an image of Shira flashed in her mind, and she mentally yelped, 'now I finally know why mom hated being called Mrs. Gilmore, just gonna have to keep that last one from being used.' Her thoughts continued: She thought about all that marrying Logan entailed. She thought of how he had repeatedly told her that he wanted to see her achieve her goal of becoming a reporter, a well known and respected reporter. She also realized there were duties for her as his wife, and in doing them, she would be supporting her husband and his career. 'Okay, I can do that – be a reporter and a Huntzberger wife, no problem.'

She began to doze off when a thought flew into her head, 'I have to make a name as a reporter while having the last name Huntzberger! Not that they have a bad reputation in the industry, they are the most widely known and respected, but I want to make it on my own. On _my_ own talent, not everyone thinking I am only there because of a name…I need a plan.'

Over the next hour, she tossed and turned, trying to figure out what she wanted to do when she finally formulated her plan.

She rolled back to where Logan was sleeping and nudged him, "Logan wake up."

"Baby it's time for sleep," he mumbled.

She tried again, "I want to talk to you about something."

"15 more minutes."

"Logan, it's not even midnight, you need to wake up anyways…come on this is important."

"Mmmmhmmmmm."

"It's about becoming a Huntzberger."

With that, she had his attention, "What about it? I swear it's not as bad as I make it seem."

She laughed, "Well yes and no. Can I explain what I'm thinking before you start adding your thoughts?"

"Sure Ace," she looked at him skeptically so he added, "Believe it or not, I do have the ability to keep quiet."

"Or not. So, as I was saying, I woke up thinking about marrying you and all that it means. Now, we've been dating for almost 2 year, so although I wasn't your wife…man that sounds weird…"

"I happen to like it."

"Like I said, or not," she said, smiling sweetly at him, "So, I wasn't your wife, but I still attended society events with you, and dealt with you having some business trips and so on, which makes me think I'm prepared for all of those things."

"I agree, and therefore have yet to see the problem."

"Work. I was going to send in my resume to newspapers in Hartford, Boston, and New York City. I wanted to find out where your dad was going to send you first before I narrowed down my search. And, after last night, that is even more of a priority."

"That's good to hear," he interjected, causing her to roll her eyes and continue.

"But last night, I realized that before the week is out papers will be running news of our engagement. And, in a year or whenever we get married, I will have your last name. As much as I am proud and happy to be marrying you, I don't want everyone to think I only got a job because of you or am only given stories or good reviews because of you. I mean, I know you worry about the same things, but you get to jump in at the top. People expect you to start high up, and they will be watching for you to falter. I mean, yes you get the job because of your name, but you will prove yourself, repeatedly even, throughout your career. Before long, they will all see your talent and know it is real because no one is overseeing many of the things you are going to do. If you screw up, it's for all the world to see. Me, I'll be accused of marrying you to make my career. Or better yet the generic, _'she slept her way to the top.'_ I don't want that. I want to be hired because I'm a good journalist, I want the promotions I will hopefully get because I'm good not because of you."

"Rory, believe me when I say I understand where you are coming from. I wish things could be different, but I don't know how to change them except for not getting married."

She noticed the sad look on his face, "Logan nothing is going to stop me from marrying you. I mean I would have to give back this ring. Have you seen this ring? It's beautiful! I have only had it a few hours, and there is no way you're ever getting it back. I'm still wondering how you parted with it." He smirked, causing her to laugh, while continuing without missing a beat, "That is why I have created a plan."

"I've heard some of your plans, so please share. We're not going to take to the sea again are we? Because that didn't turn out so well last time."

"No, I was thinking that I could apply for my jobs and write under a pen name."

"That would work around the office for a while, but we still have events we have to attend, appearances to make. They will figure it out eventually."

"I thought about that too. I admit that eventually the people I work with will find out, but hopefully that will be after I've worked there long enough to prove myself. As for everyone else in the industry, we can tell them that I am a journalist. If they bring up not seeing any bylines, we tell them I use a pen name. There are lots of people who use them so they won't know which one is mine. That way when my column is critiqued by anyone outside the paper staff they will not be influenced by your name. I know that doesn't seem like much, but the outside reviews are important and being able to say that they were not influenced by who I am would mean a lot to me."

"So what name were you thinking? How about Candi?"

His response caused a huge grin to grow across her face. "Does that mean you like my idea?"

"There are still some details to work out, but yes, I love your plan."

"I was thinking Ella Danes."

"And what inspired this choice?"

"Well Ella because I always thought it could be another nick name for Lorelai, so it won't be as hard to learn to answer to."

"Very practical of you."

"And Danes because it sounds common, and it doesn't draw any attention. But more importantly it's Luke's last name, I mean he's always been like a father to me, and ever since he and my mom got married, it feels like it even more. Of course, I'd have to ask him first, do you think he would mind?"

"I think he would be honored, now can I go back to bed?"

"Well now that we're up, I was thinking of ways to tire you out before we go back to sleep."

"Are you trying to work blue on me Ace?"

With that, Rory climbed on top of him causing all thoughts other than the pleasure to come to fly from their heads.

--

_**A/N: Please read me!**_

_1: Should I continue the story, if so anything you think that sucks or is great? Any input would help!_

_2: I'm sure you noticed I tried to write a little smut, be honest how cheesy was it?_

_3: As of now I don't have a beta, do you think i need one? If so, any one wanna volunteer?_

_4: In case there is any confusion, single quotes ('lalalala') are thoughts, I'm singing to myself while double quotes ("lalalala") means I'm serenading my listeners :-)_


	3. Tell it to the Judge

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

--

The only response heard when the alarm clock started beeping at 5:30 the next morning was muffled groans.

Finally, Rory spoke the first coherent word of the morning, "Coffee."

"No talking, sleep," Logan responded while pulling Rory's pillow over his head.

"Need coffee, go!" she commanded while stealing the pillow back from him.

Rolling over to face Rory he looked confused and asked, "Why do I have to get the coffee?"

"Because I'm more tired than you" she whined into her pillow.

"No, we got equal amounts of sleep, or lack there of, in fact you fell asleep first. That would mean I am actually more tired," he said as if speaking to a child.

"True, however, I expended more energy before we fell asleep."

"On what grounds?"

"Simple, last night I was on top; therefore, I was doing more work. Also I had two orgasms and you only had one, meaning I had twice as much of my energy used up," she explained, somehow managing to keep a straight face.

To say he was surprised by her argument would be an understatement. Usually she didn't talk so bluntly about sex, so it caught him off guard. After a few seconds, he recovered from his shock and gave his reply, "but I had your weight on me so when I was thrusting, giving YOU those two orgasms may I point out, I had to lift my body weight plus yours."

"Are you saying I'm fat?" she deadpanned in a quick reply.

Logan mentally kicked himself for bringing up a girl's weight, "No, but since your body takes up space you must have some mass. Physics says so," 'nice save Huntz.'

"But my body shouldn't have been lifted with yours. I should be going against you, deeper contact that way. So if I was being lifted that was unnecessary work on your part and isn't my fault, it just indicates poor execution on yours. For that, I shouldn't be punished."

"Are you complaining about my ability in bed?" asks Logan in disbelief.

"The truth hurts," came her quick reply as a smirk came across her lips.

Ignoring this last comment and determined to make her pay for it later, he continued, "We'll see about that. But back to the original point, I was on top earlier in the evening. That makes us even."

"No, that's a moot point."

"How?" he asked, extremely curious as to how she was going to talk her way out of this one.

"It's no longer applicable to our current situation. We both slept afterwards, so any fatigue acquired from the first round was recuperated during the first session of sleep."

'Damn, on some level that made sense…I think that is the first sign I'm loosing my sanity. I'm actually becoming fluent in crazy,' Logan decided to change his tactic, "Fine, I concede to you on that; however, I think you have overlooked an important fact."

"And what is that?"

"Your graduation is why we have to get up, so it is your fault that the alarm had to be set this early."

"But I didn't make the ceremony at 9:00, that would have been the University President. Make him get the coffee."

"Do you have his number?" he asked in a serious voice.

Exasperated she shot back, "You can't be that lazy, just get the coffee."

"You're the coffee addict, how has this become my duty?"

"Because you want to marry me," she pointed out, and she broke into a smile.

"Why was that, I seem to have forgotten," he teased back, thinking the debate was over.

"I believe you said because we get each other to do things we didn't think possible. Like you getting up to make me coffee at 5:30 in the morning. GO! Prove our love!" She commanded in an over dramatic tone.

'I let down my guard to early, I mean I walked right into that one.' Logan found his response, "First, you've been spending too much time with Finn. Second, I make the coffee every morning we are together. Why don't you do something you didn't think possible like getting out of bed this early without coffee?"

"Logan, that isn't something I can do, its against the Gilmore Girls code, it's stated in the rule book, in fact it may well be an impossibility caused by generic defect. It's being researched at the Mayo Clinic as we speak."

"That is not a fact making it an invalid argument, you're just making up rules," he replied wanting to win the argument swiftly.

Rory rolled to the side of the bed, picked up her cell phone, punched in a number on speed dial, and then put it on speaker phone. After 5 rings there was an answer, "Are you on fire?"

"Ummmm...no?"

"Rory? Is that you? Why are you calling this early if you aren't on fire?"

"Why would I be on fire?"

"I don't know, why are talking this early in the morning or better yet even awake?"

"We have to get up so we can get back to Yale for graduation, and Logan won't get me coffee."

"If that's why you called I'm disowning you. My man gets me coffee, it's not my fault if yours isn't properly trained," Lorelai mumbled into the phone as she was getting ready to roll over and go back to sleep.

"I need you to tell him why I can't get it."

"You know why, tell him yourself," she said, getting more annoyed.

"But I'm calling you as my first witness in the trial against the Gilmore Girl way of life, so please explain it to the court."

Lorelai sighed into the phone before reciting, "The Gilmore Girl Rule Book Section I: Coffee, Article E, line 7, clause 2 clearly states if a Gilmore Girl is to be woken at an inhumane hour (before the sun) a minimum of 4 cups of coffee must be presented to her as an offering or face the penalty of death."

Over the past year or so, Lorelai had a chance to get to know Logan. At first, she was still unsure about him, but at one Friday night dinner she realized he could be her partner in crime, not only that, but he was good to Rory, and so, the two had bonded. Since then, she learned more about him and the two got along fairly well, and teasing him was something she enjoyed, and this was an opportunity she wouldn't pass up so she decided to play along.

"Now Lorelai, would you say you are an expert on the Gilmore Girls?" Rory asked, continuing her questioning.

"As the founder of the rule book and the elder on the Gilmore Girls Council, I am the leading expert on the topic, yes."

"And when the rule states you may face the penalty of death, what is it referring to?"

"It can be any number of things, but is not just limited to the life of the person guilty of the crime. It could be the figurative death of part of the accused's life such as: sex, drinking, pranks."

Logan was heard in the background quietly mumbling something about _'evil women.'_

"Thank you Lorelai," Rory rolled over to face Logan again and asked, "Would you like to cross examine the witness?"

"You both are nuts: You know that right?" It was the only response he could come up with that didn't make him join the madness.

"You're damaging your own case by losing the favor of the court," Lorelai responded as if it were a real hearing.

"Fine I'll play your game," 'maybe embracing this charade is the way out,' thought Logan, "I have no questions for the witness and would like to point out that the defendant pleads not guilty."

"On what grounds?" He heard Lorelai ask, apparently she had taken on the role of the Judge.

"The defendant does not have access to the rulebook. Holding me accountable for being uninformed on irrelevant rules regarding coffee is not justice."

"Irrelevant? Logan may I remind you we are discussing the elixir of life. If you take the sacred drinks name in vain again I'll be forced to hold you in contempt of court."

'This is getting ridiculous even on their standards. I can't believe what I am about to say,' Logan let out a quiet groan before answering, "May the court accept my apology. I was merely pointing out that while I have a working knowledge of the laws, such as Gilmore Girls do not run or eat vegetables, the finer points of your laws are not revealed to me until after I have broken them."

"It's called trial and error and while the court hears your request, the rule book is not disclosed to outsiders. They only way it may be obtained is if said person is creating a union with a Gilmore Girls, like marriage."

"Then may it please the court to know that such an impending union exists." Logan responded, without realizing what he was saying.

"Judicial time out!" Lorelai screamed over the phone, "Explain."

"Mom, last night Logan asked me to marry him and I said yes," Rory stated calmly looking at Logan with excitement growing across her face as she spoke.

"Oh hun, I'm so excited for you. My baby girl is getting married! I want details later."

"Definitely."

"Logan! What took you so long? Just for making me keep this secret for so long I should refuse to bring you a rule book."

"I was waiting until the perfect time to ask. And what do you mean I won't get a rule book, there really is a rule book?" Although he learned to never underestimate the Gilmore Girls, he didn't actually think the rule book existed.

"Of course, my naive limo boy! And you'll be excited to know that since Rory is one of the founding members of the Gilmore Girl Association your copy is a first edition, signed by the author too! And all amendments and changes to the original rules have been added by hand. You can put it with all your other fancy books," she said in a voice that reminded him of when they announce a prize on some cheesy game show.

"So does this conclude our morning session of insanity?"

"I guess. See you at Yale, and don't be late getting distracted doing something I would do," Lorelai advised in a sing song voice.

Rory let out an, "Ewwwww," while at the same time Logan started laughing and both exchanged a good bye.

Rory rolled on top of Logan and gave him her best Bambi eyes and asked, "Coffee?"

He leaned up and gave her a quick kiss before conceding. He returned a short time later with the aforementioned 4 cups of coffee before starting to get ready for the day.

--

Later that afternoon, the extended Gilmore family: Lorelai, Luke, Logan, Richard, Emily, Lane, Zach, Paris, Doyle, Sookie, and Jackson gathered outside the auditorium where graduation was held waiting to find Rory. Once she arrived, Lorelai started going crazy with her camera, taking pictures of Rory with as many people as possible; she was on her third roll of the day.

It was not long after they started taking pictures that someone noticed Rory's new piece of jewelry. The women instantly began gushing at the ring Logan had picked out while Richard offered his congratulations to Logan and Luke gave him condolences on the loss of his sanity.

Everyone was preparing to head back to Stars Hallow for a town wide celebration of the occasion; it had been the compromise to keep them all from coming to the actual event. Before everyone left, Rory asked that they keep the news of Rory's engagement to themselves. She reasoned that they would tell everyone in the morning, but if news leaked out, the town would attempt to turn tonight into an impromptu engagement party. Seeing her point, everyone quickly agreed.

Finally the only people left were Rory, Logan, Lorelai and Luke. This gave Rory an opportunity to explain the plan to her mom, who agreed that it was for the best. Rory then turned to Luke telling him the pen name she had thought of, and he just like Logan said, was taken a back by the suggestion but honored nonetheless. With this out of the way, Lorelai and Luke left for Stars Hallow to make final preparations for Rory's arrival, while the younger couple headed out to make a necessary stop on their way.

--

_**A/N: Please read and review!**_

_Also, for the simplicity of my story everything happened as it did on the show between Logan and Rory, except for him sleeping with the bridesmaids. I will make some brief references to general spoilers that have yet to come this season, but I'm changing them to fit my story. Also, as for Luke, he has no daughter named April so he and Lorelai got married on June 3rd as originally planned. _


	4. Is She Pregnant?

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

_A/N: I had more than one person message me asking if I meant for the last chapter to be funny...YES! Not only because of their arguments and the topics but because neither gives up and will use any point they can think of to win. I like to think they enjoy their bantering and will literally argue any topic. Actually, I think they are the type of couple who would literally argue about which came first the chicken or the egg, but that's to philosophical for me (I'm an engineer at heart) and I haven't figured out how to write it, if I do it will be in this story!_

--

As Logan pulled his car into the massive driveway, both he and Rory gave a long sigh. Neither wanted to go inside; although, over the past year, Mitchum and Shira learned to tolerate Rory's presence in Logan's life: It didn't, however, mean they liked it.

--

A year ago, Mitchum had been set on sending Logan to London following his graduation because he wanted to remove him from what he saw as the bad influences and distractions (aka Rory, Colin, Finn, The LDB, the parties, etc.) in his life. He truly believed that until he did that, his son would never take his responsibilities or the future of the company seriously.

After an earful from Rory which lead to a long talk with Logan, a compromise was reached. The year following his graduation was meant to groom him and give him time to adjust to becoming a more prominent figurehead within Huntzberger Media. So, as a compromise, the year was broken into thirds. The first 4 months would be spent at the paper in London as originally planned. If there were no problems and he represented the company well, then the next 4 months would be spent at the Stamford Gazette. There, Mitchum could watch his progress closely and monitor his work ethic. The final four months would be spent shadowing Mitchum himself, allowing him to meet all the necessary contacts and bring him fully into his role. This was what happened and how Logan spent the past year.

If being truthful, Mitchum would admit he never expected to see Logan do as well as he did. He handled each crisis efficiently while remaining calm, commanded the respect of the top editors in the business, and found a way to have relaxed yet intelligent conversations with the influential men of the industry at business luncheons and dinners. By the end of the year, Mitchum, for the first time, had full confidence in his son's ability to one day successfully run Huntzberger Media. Not only that, but to Logan's surprise, as he continued to excel at work, his dad became less overbearing regarding the rest of his life, and while it was far from the perfect father son relationship, it was much better than it was before.

During this time, Mitchum still held onto reservations over his continuing relationship with one Rory Gilmore. He always wondered what it was she wanted from his family: Everyone wanted something, and he hadn't figured her out yet. He assumed it was one of two things: The Name; bringing with it both the money and the status; he thought if this was what she wanted, she'd try and get it the way they all did, by getting pregnant. Or A Career; she always said she had wanted to be a reporter since a young age, what better way to guarantee one than by getting all the right connections through Logan. He thought he had ended this possibility last year by crushing her dreams when she had interned for him, but was shocked when she decided to continue with her career choice and wondered if she may still be after Logan's connections (just not to Mitchum). Or maybe, she wanted both; he was just waiting for her to slip up so he could figure it out.

--

Logan and Rory were well aware of his family's reservations surrounding their relationship, but why they held onto them, they weren't sure. It was these unanswered questions that caused a feeling of dread to pass over them as they approached the front door of the mansion. They rang the door bell, and per high society standards, were greeted by the maid.

"Mr. Huntzberger, Miss Gilmore please come in and allow me to take you coats."

"Thank you Margaret, how is you family doing?" Rory questioned, while giving her a soft smile.

In the nearly 15 years that Margaret had been working for the family, she had never met a guest quite like Miss Gilmore. At first, she found her odd and thought she didn't understand how society works, after all, she always gives a polite greeting and exchanged pleasantries as if they were peers, the others just turn their noses up at her. Over time, she realized that she knew the rules, just didn't like them so she chose to follow her own, and for this she had grown fond of the young girl.

These thoughts were running threw Margaret's mind as she replied, "You're welcome miss, and my family is doing quite well," then gave a short nod and exited the room.

Logan escorted Rory through the house into the sitting room to find his mother nursing a drink.

"Good afternoon Mother," he said in the sweetest voice he could muster.

"Oh Logan, it's nice of you to stop by, and Rory dear, good to see you again," she greeted in a perfect society voice with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"It's nice to see you too Mrs. Huntzberger," Rory replied fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Mom, is dad in his office? Rory and I have something we would like to discuss with you both."

"Of course, let me go get him," she said, before making a quick exit to search for her husband.

Logan mixed them each a drink and took a seat next to Rory on the couch. When his parents returned, they sat down across from the younger couple and tried to hide the look of doom on their faces.

"Logan, what is it that you needed to speak with us about so urgently?" Mitchum questioned.

"Well, it's more a piece of news, excellent news in fact," Logan looked at Rory missing the look of fear that flashed across his parents' faces, before adding, "Last night I asked Rory to marry me, and she accepted."

"And…?" Mitchum asked impatiently, waiting for the bomb to drop.

Logan tried to respond to the vague question, "And…..we came here to tell you," he said, his confusion evident in his voice.

Looking his son directly in the eye, Mitchum barked, "My office now!" With that, both men stood and exited the room leaving a very confused Rory and disapproving Shira behind.

When the office door was closed, Mitchum started his interrogation, "When is the baby due?"

Still slightly confused but starting to see where is father was going with this Logan gave a short answer, "Rory's not pregnant."

"Is she blackmailing you?" he continued in a serious tone.

"On your list of questions as to why we're getting married, what number did because I love her get?" his frustration that he would have been forced into this decision starting to show.

"This is no time for your jokes Logan, this is an important family," he said sternly.

"Dad, I asked her to marry me because I wanted to. There was no other reason, please get that in your head," his tone now exasperated.

"You're sure she's not pregnant?" he knew he already asked but he wanted to be sure.

Rolling his eyes he answered again, "Dad there is no baby, there won't be a baby for at least a few years. I don't know why you can't give her a chance; she's not the evil manipulative person I'm sure you've made her out to be in your head." He paused and thought for a moment before adding, "She's not mom."

While at any other time, Mitchum may have felt that comment was disrespectful it definitely made him stop and think about the situation. In his limited contact with the girl, he had noticed she didn't seem to complain when Logan had to work or travel like his wife did. He had also been convinced she would hold him back by demanding attention when he was in town, but after the performance he had this past year, he couldn't make that claim either. If she wasn't pregnant, she obviously didn't use that to force her way into the family, and besides if that was her plan, he was sure she had many chances to make it occur. His mind started to wonder if she actually wasn't with Logan for his last name……he made a note to pay closer attention.

After both men let their thoughts stew for a few minutes, Logan spoke, "There was actually one other matter we wanted to discuss with you. It concerns Rory, but we would like to keep it from mom for now, we don't need the whole DAR knowing."

"Well what is it?" he asked, in his mind wondering if this was where he would find out the catch to the whole situation.

"Actually, Rory would like to explain it to you, should I get her?" Logan asked, slightly worried about bringing her into the lion's den.

His father gave him a curt nod, so he exited and returned a few minutes later with Rory in tow.

Rory looked at Mitchum. She and Logan had decided they needed his support for her plan to work because there were a few issues they were unsure about.

With a look of new found determination and a final calming breath she began, "Mr. Huntzberger, I've been thinking a lot about how this engagement will affect my life. I'm sure within a few days an announcement will be run in the paper, more than one paper even," she paused and saw him smirk, thinking to herself, 'that's where Logan gets it!' and give her a small nod before she continued, "And while, I won't technically become a Huntzberger for some time, many people, especially those in the newspaper industry, will make note of this news, and by default me, a soon-to-be member of this family."

"Yes, that is all true. So what is it that you wanted to discuss?" He had entertained many possibilities of what she might say, but none were even close to what he heard next.

Rory quickly, but clearly explained both her plan and the reasoning behind it. Mitchum was in shock, as she left him with no other choice than to admit she wasn't trying to get her dream career out of him.

Gaining his composure he said, "I have to say Miss Gilmore, I wasn't expecting that, but I am still wondering what it is you want from me."

"Well two things really, first I know many people use pen names, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. I want to apply under this name, not just use it for by lines. Also, many of the papers I'm applying at are owned by your company and even if they aren't, I know people will find out who I am eventually, and I don't want the paper heads to be angry about any deception. I was hoping you could advise me on who I should give full disclosure to at the paper and how to go about creating my pen name."

Mitchum listened to her talk while searching for any trace of an ulterior motive. When she finished, he had found none so he answered, "As far as creating a full identity for your pen name, call my secretary and schedule a meeting with me for this week, and we can set it all up. Then you can apply where you want under that name and after you know what paper you will be working for, let me know, and we can talk about whom to tell and set up the appropriate meeting to explain the situation. Is there anything else?"

"No I think that was it," she paused to think about it and then babbled, "I can't believe I almost forgot! Yes, actually there were a couple of other quick things."

Mitchum raises an eyebrow at her indicating she should keep going, so she did, "Would it be possible to leave any photographs out of the announcement?"

He almost laughed at the strange request until he figured out why she would make it, so he gave a quick yes.

"This is the last thing, I swear. I'm not even sure if you know the answer yet, but I was wondering if you had decided where Logan would be working for the next few years? I was going to narrow my job search based on that."

"I was going to meet with Logan to go over that later this week, but now will work. I was planning on sending him to New York. He would have his main office at _The Times_, but also oversee the two other Huntzberger papers there, _The Observer_ and _The Village Voice_. Having him take these 3 papers would open up my schedule and hopefully allow me to acquire a few more papers. Logan?"

"Sounds fine dad," Logan gave an automatic reply, it wouldn't have mattered if he objected, so why bother. Although he had to admit, it was a better assignment than he expected.

There was a long pause as Mitchum thought some things over and finally decided to speak, "Miss Gilmore, may I say something?"

"Yes, but please, call me Rory."

"Okay Rory, as I'm sure you and Logan are aware, in the past I have shown my disapproval of you based on assumptions I made early on. I have been holding onto those judgments ever since, and while I still may have some reservations, your actions today have forced me to rethink my initial opinion. As I see it, you are marrying Logan, and I think it would be appropriate for us to attempt to get to know each other better."

Rory looked at Logan for help, but he appeared to be in shock. She wasn't sure what to do with this information, so she said the first thing that came to mind, "Today was my graduation."

"Was it? Well, congratulations," he replied, not sure what other response she expected.

"Thank you, but the reason I bring it up Mr. Huntzberger," she began but was cut off before she could continue, "Mitchum, if you insist on Rory, I must insist on Mitchum."

She smiled at the small gesture, "The reason I mention it, Mitchum, is because we're having a party in my town to mark the occasion. If you're not busy, you are more than welcome to come."

"That's nice of you, but I wouldn't want to cause any problems by adding myself on last minute," Mitchum said automatically, following years of society etiquette.

To this, Rory started laughing, "This isn't a DAR event. All family and friends have been invited, and no one was asked to RSVP. It is an open invitation."

"Are you sure?"

Logan cut in saying, "Dad, it's fine. I can definitely say it will be like no other party you've been asked to attend. You may actually like it."

Rory decided to add Logan's comment, "The people throwing the party are special."

"Like eat the paste kind of special," Logan said, remembering their conversation from long ago.

Mitchum was confused, so he asked, "What does that mean?"

"Think Finn, only more of them," Logan said to help explain it, then added, "Actually, he blends right in."

"Now, I am afraid and curious. I guess I'll have to come see for myself. Logan, I trust you can show yourselves out, I must go talk to Shira." He moved to leave his office, but turned back to add, "I almost forgot, congratulations on the engagement."

After Logan and Rory got back to the car, they sat silently thinking about what just happened.

"That went better than I expected," Rory said, turning to face Logan.

"I have to say I was surprised, no that is an understatement. I think we just witnessed the first sign of the apocalypse."

She rolled her eyes, "But it was a good thing right? A start?"

He relented to her serious question, "Yes, a very good thing."

"Okay then, we got that over with. Now, it's time to have fun." Seeing Logan still had yet to start the car, she added, "We need to see if Finn is naked yet."

Starting the engine, he replied, "Five bucks says he's naked before Kirk."

She put on a show of carefully thinking it over before yelling, "You're on!"

With that, they pulled out of the driveway and headed for Stars Hallow.

--

**_A/N: As always, please read and review, I really am open to any inputs and ideas (even criticisms if you must)!_**

_I'm not sure if people are going to like how I wrote the situation with Mitchum, I know it's a little OC from the show but I like to think the man has his reasons, and if he saw his reasons were wrong, it would change the situation. I didn't mean to make it that long, but I wanted a full explanation of the situation and to tell what Logan was up to since he graduated a year earlier before the story progresses too far, and well this was a good spot._

_Also, I hope to get the next chapter up today because I know this one isn't all that exciting. But I promise, the next one will be fun: It's the party in Stars Hallow!_


	5. Slave Boy!

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

_A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, it really does help keep me motivated so please continue. I was hoping to update sooner, but got caught up in my finals. Hope you enjoy!_

--

After dropping the car and luggage off at the Dragonfly for the night, Rory and Logan walked into town for the celebration. The gazebo had been covered in blue and white with a banner hanging across it which read, _'Congratulations Rory! Yale, Class of 2007.' _Inside the gazebo, there was a table covered in gifts. Around the square, various carnival games had been set up while the food (compliments of Luke and Sookie) and drinks (your choice of coffee, Miss Patty's punch, or beer from the keg) were on the sidewalk in front of Luke's.

The first guests they saw were Colin, Finn, and Steph who were also just arriving. Colin and Steph both gave Rory a hug and offered her congrats. Rory had become good friends with them over time, but she had a special bond with Finn. When he saw her, he ran over, picked her up in a bear hug, and then set her down and exclaimed, "My little sister is all grown up and graduated from college!" then wiped away fake tears as he said, "It seems like only yesterday when she started school, and now the next thing I know, she'll be getting married, it makes me feel so old."

Rory giggled, not something she did often, at his antics while the others rolled their eyes at the reference.

--

_It had been 6 weeks since Logan had left for London, and while she knew she loved him, she was unprepared for how much she would miss him. She had seen his friends a few times since he left, but they had also graduated and entered the working world so she was on her own in New Haven for the summer. _

_She was going through the grocery store buying food for the upcoming week, including rations for her solo movie marathon that night as she commented to herself, 'Man my life is pathetic, mom's on her honeymoon, and I'm going to sit home alone on a Saturday night.' _

_Then she heard a cheery, "Hello love."_

"_Finn?" Rory looked up confused, "You do know you're in a grocery store not a bar, right?"_

"_True, but they do sell liquor and condoms," he responded, giving her a wink, "I might ask you the same question, the last I heard you were culinarily challenged."_

"_Culinarily isn't a word," she said with an eye roll._

"_Just go with it, so what are you doing this fine evening?"_

"_If you must know, I have a quiet night in planned," she said in a sharper tone than she intended._

"_Is something wrong love?" he asked in a soft voice._

"_Why do you ask that?"_

"_You seem upset."_

"_Well maybe I am, so what!" she exclaimed, getting annoyed with his questioning._

"_I know just what you need. How about we both finish up here, rent some movies, go back to your apartment, order some food, and make an night of it?" he asked in an attempt to cheer her up._

_Rory gave the idea some thought, 'It does so much more exciting than what I had planned, and at least I won't be alone again thinking about Logan…' and then sighed, saying, "I guess…"_

_So that is how Rory came to find herself talking to Finn about school, the LDB, their summers, work, family, really anything that came to mind while they were becoming slightly tipsy._

_They were currently discussing family, so Rory asked, "Do you have any siblings?"_

"_Nope, it's just me. For the most part, I liked it: I mean I got along okay with my parents, but sometimes I wished there were other kids in the family," he told her truthfully._

"_Me too, I mean technically I have Gigi, but she's so much younger and lives in Boston with my dad so it's not the same. When I was younger, I always wished I had an older sibling. You know someone to look out for you, give you advice."_

"_I have an idea!" he said clapping his hands._

"_Finn, no!" she exclaimed quickly, "whenever you have an idea, someone, usually you, ends up getting arrested."_

"_But this is a good plan," Finn urged, but noticed she still looked wary, so added, "I solemnly swear on alcohol."_

"_Fine, lets hear it," she relented, knowing just because it was Finn's idea, it was bound to be interesting. _

"_I can be your big brother and you can be my little sister," he shouted, obviously drunk and very proud of himself for his 'brilliant' idea._

"_What? Finn no!" she shrieked._

"_Why not? I already said I always would have liked to have a sibling, and to tell you the truth, I always hoped if I did, it were a baby sister. I mean look at me, I could protect her and scare her dates away. I would be great at it," he said, while waving his hands trying to make his point._

"_Well, I have to say that is sweet, but…"_

_Finn jumped in saying, "So you want a big brother, and I want a little sister, it's perfect! And I already like you well enough. Oh come on love, please, I'll be the best big brother in the world," he said pouting._

_That made her cave, "Fine, we'll give it a _TRY_ Finn," causing him to jump up and down and then give her a big hug._

_Over the next couple of days, Finn was very excited about their new arrangement: He even got her a coffee mug that said "World's Best Sister." She loved the gift; it was cheesy, yes, but she did love coffee and it was so cute._

_Almost two weeks after their movie night, Rory heard a knock on her door, and she jumped up because she knew who it would be. When she opened the door, she saw who she expected, but his appearance was a surprise. _

"_What happened?" she asked, concerned while bringing a hand up to his face and checking his bloody nose._

"_I got off the plane and was walking through the baggage area when I saw Finn. I was surprised, I mean the last I had checked Frank was meeting me there to give me a ride. Well, the next thing I know Finn walks up, punches me and starts yelling about having sex with his baby sister," he glanced at Rory. _

_Through her laughter, she managed to say, "I'm so sorry! I had no idea he would take it this far."_

"_We're talking about Finn, when was the last time he didn't take something farther than we thought possible. Anyhow, I didn't know about your little arrangement and was thoroughly confused because Finn is an only child. He eventually explained what was going on, and I must say Ace, he's very protective of you."_

"_Where is Finn?" she asked, looking back into the hallway expecting to see him._

"_Well, you see this is the funny part. A security guard saw him haul off and punch me and then start yelling, so they tried to restrain him. And well, he resisted and they arrested him," he said sheepishly._

"_I told him his plans always get someone arrested," Rory said before standing up, "okay let's go bail him out." _

_--_

That was how it began. Over that summer, Finn and Rory grew closer, and he even bonded with Lorelai. Logan was happy about that, he knew Rory was entertained by it all and was lonely while he was in London. So tonight, he watched wondering what trouble they would cause as she jumped on Finn for a piggy back ride as they went in search of Lorelai.

When they found her, she quickly donned Rory in her accessories for the evening which included a plastic crown, a pink feather boa, and a beauty pageant sash reading _The Graduate_. After her wardrobe change, she left to make the rounds and visit with as many people as possible while Lorelai and Finn went on stage to be the opening act for karaoke, singing "What's My Age Again."

--

Mitchum Huntzberger entered Stars Hallow not sure what to expect, but was here nonetheless as a gesture of good will towards Rory. He had tried to explain this to Shira, but she was uninterested which was why he was now walking along the sidewalk alone. As he turned the corner, he was surprised at the scene before him, had he not known it was a graduation he defiantly wouldn't have guessed it. A carnival maybe, a circus even, but a graduation party no.

He was out of his element. For the life of him, he couldn't remember the last time he was the outsider, the person unsure of their surroundings, so he decided to take it all in before crossing the street. He noticed a table nearby with coffee so he got a cup and looked around noticing Finn and a woman who looked familiar on stage singing.

'Huh, no one seems to be making much notice of Finn's spectacle. Logan was right, he blends in,' he thought, and his body gave a shudder. Before he got too lost in his thoughts, he was pulled out of them.

"Hey there sugar," greeted a short blond women.

"Hello," he replied automatically.

"Are you lost? You're not from around here," she said, looking him over.

"I'm from Hartford, Rory invited me," he said, looking back at the party.

"Oh, she is such a doll, sweetest girl you ever did meet. I know she's around here somewhere. I'm Babette by the way, Rory's next door neighbor."

"Mitchum Huntzberger," he said in his business voice.

"Huntzberger? Are you related to Logan, he's such a cutie."

"He's my son," he supplied before thinking about it and asking, "You know Logan?"

"Of course, we all know Logan. He's such the gentleman, so much better for Rory than her first two boyfriends. Well, it was nice to meet you, but now I have to find Miss Patty."

'Odd women,' he thought and wondered how he was going to find Rory or Logan in the masses. He decided to refill his coffee first. When he walked back over to the table, he noticed a women standing near the food who hadn't been there before.

"Excuse me, do you know where I could find Rory or Logan?"

"Not really sure. Hey Luke," she turned and shouted, "Have you seen Rory or Logan?"

"Who wants to know?" he asked, his back still to the table.

Sookie turned back and tilted her head at him so he supplied, "Mitchum Huntzberger."

"Oh Logan's father, right. I'm Sookie," she said, offering her hand which he took, "Luke, it's Logan's dad."

That statement had caught Luke's attention so he made his way back to the table. He looked at the man he had only seen once in passing. Not sure what to say, he went with his first thought, "He's a good kid."

"You know Logan too?" he asked, surprised that he was so well known.

"Sorry, Luke Danes," he said, when he realized that probably didn't mean much he added, "I'm Lorelai's husband, Rory's step-father."

"Nice to meet you. Would you happen to know where Logan or Rory are?"

"I'm not sure about Rory, but if you wait a few minutes, Logan should be stopping by to get a cup of coffee and Miss Patty's punch."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked skeptical of this seemingly random prediction.

"I'm not sure of the details, but somehow Lorelai made Logan agree to be her beverage slave for the night. And, as one of conditions of the party was, I am not allowed to limit her or Rory's coffee consumption. So Logan was here about 15 minutes ago which means he should be coming by any minute to get Lorelai her next fix."

"What about the glass of punch?" he inquired.

"Another condition. Lorelai has a bad history with the punch, does crazy things, so for every glass of punch she has to have a cup of coffee."

"I thought you were supposed to drink water," Mitchum asked, thoroughly confused at the logic.

"For us humans yes, for a Gilmore it's coffee," Luke noticed Mitchum didn't seem to believe him so continued, "You have to see it to believe it, and I've seen it more times than I care to count."

No sooner had Luke finished this explanation when Logan walked up. The first thing Mitchum noticed was his pink pageant sash with silver glitter writing: _Lorelai's Beverage Slave. _He's not normally one to joke, but this was priceless so he said, "Nice outfit son."

Logan scowled in response and refilled the 2 cups he had. As he walked away, he turned to his father and said, "Follow me."

They walked silently for a few moments before Mitchum's curiosity got the best of him, "Logan, how did you end up Lorelai's slave?"

"I went to her house one day to get permission from her and Luke to ask Rory to marry me. I was trying to be traditional about it. After I asked, I reminded Lorelai that this was a secret and not to tell Rory. The next thing I know, she says this is what I have to do if she doesn't slip up. So here I am," he ranted in an annoyed tone.

Weaving through the crowd, they walked towards Lorelai who was awaiting his return next to the stage.

When she spotted him, she yelled, "You're back! What took you so long?" He gave no response, just handed her both cups. She got an evil grin on her face and slammed both of the drink down, looked at Logan and said, "I need more. Go fetch slave boy."

This made Logan crack, ridiculous was such an understatement for this situation, so he ripped off the sash, held it up to Lorelai and said, "I quit."

Lorelai started laughing and yelled, "Taylor what's the official time?"

In the distance a reply of, "8:13," came.

Lorelai took out a sheet of paper and looked it over while walking up to the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, could I have your attention. It's time to announce the winner of tonight's bet who will receive the collection pool, which reached $220. The actual amount of time was 63 minutes so with a prediction of 65 minutes the winner is Rory!"

In the crowd, you could hear her cheering, and she quickly made her way to the stage to collect her winnings. As she was leaving, Logan grabbed her arm, asking, "What is this?"

"Well…see, we were having a meeting to work on the party, and mom mentioned that for reasons she couldn't say, you had agreed to be her beverage slave for the night. Then, Luke said you would never make it, and that got a lot of nods, so they decided to make a betting pool. The bet was how many minutes after your arrival you would get fed up with her demands."

"And you won by sheer luck?"

"Not quite. If left uninfluenced, mom drinks a cup of coffee in 10 minutes, and I figured 5 minutes for the punch. Now, I also know from experience that it's not until I ask you to bring me my 4th cup of coffee in the morning that you refuse. So using some math and assuming 5 minutes of walking per trip and then adding an extra 5 to be safe I placed my bet. Now, I have to go and thank you," she said, before leaning forward giving his a brief kiss and walking off with a grin plastered on her face.

Mitchum watched the exchange with growing interest. It certainly was funny to see someone get under his skin like that, and he was sure Logan would like being bet on even less.

"You were right Logan, this is entertaining," Mitchum said with his own smirk firmly in place.

Needing a change is subject, he asked, "What do you think so far?"

"Like Rory said, it's no DAR function. So that is Lorelai?"

"Yes," he said shortly, still annoyed she used him for everyone's entertainment like that.

"Does she always cause this much trouble?" he asked, truly curious about the women's behavior.

"More if she's with Finn," he said solemnly.

"Ah yes, I saw him singing when I arrived. I assume that means Colin and Steph are here also."

"Somewhere. Come on, I'll show you around," he motioned with his hands as he walked off.

As they walked, Mitchum noticed how many people greeted Logan as they passed. Finally he asked, "Logan what did you do to make yourself so well known here?"

"Rory," he replied, smirking at the double meaning.

"Excuse me?"

"Rory. In this town, Lorelai is Queen, and Rory is Princess. The entire town looks out for them, with Luke as their self proclaimed body guard, has been that way for years," he said, as if this explained it all.

"So you are well known because?" he prodded, not quite getting his son's meaning.

"First, because they love to gossip and the news travels faster here than in the DAR, and any boy involved with Rory makes the headlines. Also, the first weekend I spent here with Rory I was placed on public trial."

"You lost me again."

"Rory asked if I wanted to pace myself or jump right into town events. Well, you know me, I of course, picked to jump. Our first stop was the town meeting, when they realized who I was, they brought me to the front for questioning. The interrogation lasted nearly 2 hours."

"Why?"

"To find out if I was good enough for Rory. You'll be happy to hear they approved of me with an overwhelming majority."

"You're a Huntzberger, what more is there?" he asked, offended at the idea.

"Dad, look at where you are. They had never heard the last name Huntzberger until they met me and only realized its implications because Lulu googled me the next day."

"You must be joking," he asked shocked. Everyone knew their name.

"No, now come on I see Colin," he said, wanting to change the topic.

Logan and Mitchum walked up to hear Colin arguing, "But Taylor, this isn't a town festival. It's a graduation party."

"Young man, a town festival is defined as any event voted upon by the town to be held. Since this was voted on and discussed at a town meeting, even the planning was done by committee, it is a town festival. I'm sorry my hands are tied," Taylor stated with an air of finality as he walked away.

"Colin what happened?" asked a curious Logan.

"We were fined $500 on the grounds of setting up an unregistered booth at a town festival," at Logan's lack of understanding, he clarified, "we started a poker game," then noticed the man next to his friend.

"Good to see you sir."

"Colin," Mitchum said accepting a handshake, "I see you are working on your litigating skills."

"Yes, well that's easier in the rest of the world where they have normal laws. Did you know they have a town ordinance banning Miss Patty's punch unless its consumption has been pre-approved?"

Logan laughed and asked, "Sounds about right, anyways do you know where Finn is?"

"Last I saw him, he was looking for Rory, but that was a while ago. Sorry."

"It's fine, I'm sure we'll find him," he said before leaving.

--

They continued walking around for over half an hour. Logan introduced his father to various guests along the way and they even made it back to get food. They finally spotted Finn sitting in a circle with Lorelai, Steph and Miss. Patty. Each was holding a shot glass and there were 2 open fifths in the middle. They were all silent and Lorelai seemed to be in deep thought.

"What are you guys doing?" Logan questioned the group.

Lorelai looked up, "Shhhhh...oh okay, I've got one! I've never had sex in a pool." Everyone else took a shot.

Lorelai spoke again, "Well since my beverage slave quit on me I had to find another source. I knew Finn would have alcohol on him so I hunted him down then rounded up these other 2 for a game of I've never."

Finn added happily, "These women are wild. This may be the best game of I've never to have been played!" He paused for a moment, "I've never had sex without using a condom." The three girls looked at each other slightly embarrassed before shrugging and taking their shot.

Mitchum looked disturbed by this information and said, "Logan, should I really be hearing this?"

He only imagined what they would say next so he spoke up, "We're leaving now, don't do anything I wouldn't do," and they walked off.

Before they were out of ear shot, they heard Steph yell, "I've never been in anyway responsible for the sinking of a boat!" making sure Logan could hear. But they also heard Finn say, "Hey! I sunk that boat all by myself. Don't give him any credit for my hard work," and then throw back his shot.

Mitchum looked at Logan surprised, "You were serious when you said Finn sank the boat? I always figured it was your plan to avoid punishment."

"Yes dad, Finn sunk the boat," he said in a monotone voice.

"Why would you let Finn steer the boat in the first place?" Mitchum had always thought it was a cover story so never listened to their explanation of what happened and was now curious.

"He was the only one awake; We thought we had hid the key well enough. Apparently, we were wrong."

--

They continued walking around and Logan told his dad some of the stories he had heard over his visits to Stars Hallow. He was interrupted by a naked Kirk running past them screaming followed by a distant splash shortly after.

Mitchum was unsure what to say so he went with the obvious, "Was that that man naked?"

"Yes," he said, not sounding surprised.

"Why?"

"He's their Finn, except without the alcohol, so he can't claim to be too drunk to know what he was doing. Sad actually."

Mitchum looked around and noticed not many people seem surprised by what just happened, "And this happens often?"

Neither of the men had seen Rory approach so were surprised to hear her answer, "Some say the town is really an outpatient mental institution," before she turned to Logan, held out her hand and made her demanded. "Pay up!"

Logan pulled out his wallet, found a $5, and gave it to Rory.

Mitchum watched unsure of what was going on, "Do I want to know?"

"Logan bet me $5 Finn would be naked before Kirk, I accepted. As you just saw, Kirk was clearly naked first."

"So what was it this time?" Logan asked, truly curious because there was always a good story when Kirk was involved.

"He climbed up a tree and refused to come down so Taylor decided to tell him the tree was infested with termites. Well at that, he jumped out of the tree and proceeded to take off his clothes claiming he could feel them crawling on his body. Then, he ran to the lake and jumped in to wash them off," she explained in a serious voice.

"Makes sense," Logan responded, only slightly disturbed that he no longer found this type of explanation crazy. But part of him was still confused, "I don't know how Finn made it this long, it must be some sort of record," and looked up at Rory to see if she agreed. That was when he saw the look on her face, the one Lorelai had earlier, "What did you do?" he demanded.

She quickly turned on her innocent face and said, "Who...me?" in a surprised tone.

Mitchum actually broke out in laughter at this, exclaiming, "That is masterful!"

Logan looked at his father annoyed that he found this amusing and then back at Rory to continue his questioning, "Nice try, won't work on me."

Rory decided he wouldn't let this go anytime soon so she began, "Well, I may have some information on Colin and Finn which they owed me for keeping to myself. So when you made the bet in the car, I decided to cash in. I made Finn promise not to strip tonight and Colin had to keep an eye on him, stopping him if necessary."

"You cheated!" Logan yelled.

A bit taken aback, Rory said, "There were no rules. You said Finn would be naked first. There was no mention of banning any influence on our part."

"That's implied! You fixed the results."

"No, I just discouraged Finn from stripping: He still could have chosen to do it. Plus, in no way did I cause Kirk to strip, he could have easily remained clothed and the night would have ended in a draw. Just admit it, you're mad because for once I was the one who bent the rules. You should never underestimate a Gilmore."

Still shocked about what just happened, Logan sputtered, "But you learned that from me. You shouldn't be able to use it against me."

Mitchum was surprised at the exchange: He had never seen them when they were relaxed with each other. He assumed that meant they had forgotten he was standing there. 'Although it is nice to see someone, especially a girl, put him in his place,' he thought and then decided to speak up, "Rory, I was hoping I could get a minute of your time. I have something for you."

"A surprise?" she asked, letting her excitement take over.

"Most would call it a graduation gift," he replied with a small smile.

"You didn't have to get me anything, it was just nice of you to come," Rory said honestly.

"I insist," he said as he handed her a box.

Rory took off the top and saw a jewelry case. Inside was a silver chain with a cursive _h_ hanging from it with a pearl set in the end curl.

She was just looking at it speechless so Mitchum decided to explain, "I wanted to get you a gift, and I stopped at the store with something else in mind, but when I saw this I thought I could give you your first gift with your future initial. But, it also fits with what I was originally looking for. You're going to being working in a newsroom, and as I'm sure you know, they are nosy and can gossip with the best of them. If they find out you're engaged, they will not rest until them meet him, and let's be honest, that ring will draw attention. So if you want to keep a low profile, I would not suggest not wearing it. Now it is completely your choice, but I figured you wouldn't like not having it with you at all so I thought you could wear it on a necklace at work. Less people would notice it this way and even if they did you could always say something like it belonged to your grandmother and she left it to you. When I was at the store and saw the _h_, I thought you might like it. I also figured when you were married, you could replace your ring with the _h _on the chain"

Logan had to admit it was a very nice gesture and extremely practical.

Unsure what to do, Rory surprised both men when she took a step forward, gave Mitchum a hug, and said, "It's perfect, thank you."

There was an awkward silence until Rory spoke up again, "Mitchum, what did you think of the party?"

Relieved that the moment was over, he answered, "It was definitely different, in a good way. People really seemed to be enjoying themselves."

"That's what we go for," she replied smiling.

"And the food was excellent, was it catered?" he asked. And it was the truth, it was much better than what was usually served at society events.

"Sort of, Luke and Sookie made it. Luke owns the diner in town and Sookie is the chef and co-owner of the Dragonfly Inn with my mom, I'm guessing you can figure out who made what food based on that."

"Does she ever cater events? That was better than the food at most parties I attend."

"Not normally, the Inn keeps her pretty busy, but she has been known to make an exception for a good cause. Oh Logan, expect her to show up tomorrow morning with at least 5 different types of cake…she's been mumbling about how to top Mom's s'mores cake all night."

"I figured, I remember her freaking out about the food for your mom's wedding," he said laughing at the memory.

The three talked for a while longer before Mitchum noticed the time and left to make it back to Hartford at a reasonable hour. Rory and Logan went to talk to the last guests before they packed up the gifts she received for the drive to Lorelai's. Rory would pick them up at her mother's in the morning for the trip to New York. Finally, they finished and everyone went their separate ways for the night.

--

When they walked into their room, it didn't take Rory long to throw her arms around Logan's neck and kiss him deeply. He turned her around and had her shirtless and against the door in seconds. She made quick work of removing his shirt as he unclasped her bra.

Lifting her hips so he could attack her breasts, she instinctively wrapped her legs around him for support. He alternated between sucking and lightly biting her breasts causing her to arch her back, encouraging him to continue. He moved one hand under her skirt and moved her panties aside before pushing a finger inside, causing her to moan loudly. He kept up a steady rhythm before adding a second finger. He soon realized how close she was getting and let his thumb wander to her nub sending her over the edge.

As she steadied her breathing, she looked down at him and went for his belt while Logan carried her to the bed. He set her down and removed her skirt before standing up to take his pants and boxers off as well. He made quick work of the condom from his wallet and then positioned himself over her, his tip at her entrance.

He looked down at her and could see on her face what she wanted and expected to happen next. He made eye contact with her and let a devilish grin appear before he fell to the bed beside her and rolled onto his stomach.

She sat up stunned, "What are you doing?"

"I'm tired, thought I'd go to bed," he replied not sure where he was finding his current level of self control.

"Now?" she practically yelled.

"Is that a problem?" he asked seriously.

"Logan this is no time for a joke. You can't leave me like this," she said while letting her hands flail in the air.

"Really? I didn't think you would mind," he replied, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Why would you possibly think that?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well this morning you complained about my technique in bed so I didn't think you would miss it."

"I was kidding," she yelled, remembering how quickly he had let it go. Apparently, this was his revenge.

"You sure?" he asked in a teasing voice.

"Yes! God Logan, you and I both know you're amazing in bed, now please..."

She never got to finish her plea because he had moved back on top of her and entered her in one thrust before she got a chance to say anything else. Somehow the banter and prolonging made them both need the release that much more. He began to thrust fully and quickly into her while his lips latched back onto her breasts. As they both got closer, he sped up before they finally came together moaning each other's names.

He got off the bed and walked to the bathroom. When he came back, he lay down and Rory rolled over to face him mumbling, "You're mean," with a small pout on her lips.

He started laughing at her and said, "You should have seen your face when I stopped." He waited for a reply, getting none, he leaned down to kiss her softly and said, "Goodnight Ace, I love you."

Rory tried not to smile, but she couldn't help it, so she curled up against him before saying, "Love you too."

--

**_A/N: As always, please read and review, I really am open to any inputs and ideas (even criticisms if you must)!_**

_I didn't originally plan on putting so much of it in Mitchum's POV, but I always find the S.H. experience is much more entertaining from an outsiders perspective so I went with it. It was also much longer than I had imagined, hope you liked it! _


	6. She was like Hitler

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

**_A/N: I have a general outline for this story, but PLEASE if you have any ideas for anything, whether it is the plot or just a scene/chapter, let me know! And again, keep up with the reviews, I appreciate every single one :)_**

--

The next afternoon Logan and Rory packed up her gifts and returned to their apartment in New Haven. Over the next few days, they packed up in preparation to move to the rarely used penthouse Logan's family owned in upper Manhattan. And, although it was fully furnished, they were welcomed to make any changes they thought were necessary.

The front of the apartment had a kitchen, dining room and living room which were all open and spacious. There was a master bedroom with a walk-in closet and an attached bath with a Jacuzzi tub. The rest of the apartment had three bedrooms, a study, and one and a half baths, one bedroom would be turned into an office and the other two would be used as guest bedrooms. At first, Rory was unsure about the Huntzberger apartment, but she fell in love the first time she saw it. All they wanted to change was the study and living room: The study needed additional bookshelves and eventually new furniture since it was outdated and uncomfortable, and they wanted couches with an entertainment center for the living room. The rest of the apartment simply needed to be customized by Rory and Logan with a decorating style that made it feel like their own.

Rory took an afternoon off from the move preparations to hold her meeting with Mitchum and set up her pen name. By Wednesday, it was ready, and she sent her resume to six papers throughout the city. By the end of the week, she had heard back from three and scheduled interviews for the following Tuesday and Wednesday.

Monday quickly approached which marked Logan's first day at the _Times_. Rory insisted on making him breakfast on his first day, which meant she toasted him 2 poptarts and poured him coffee. Logan's body still hadn't adjusted to so much sugar early in the morning, but knew Rory liked the idea of helping him so he ate without complaint. He kissed he goodbye before he left, and silently vowed that, even though he loved her, his stomach would revolt against him if he did not find a bagel fast.

Even though he had been working for a year, this was the first assignment that he had that was just his; no one was looking over his shoulder. So, as he entered the building, a mixture of excitement and nerves, but mostly the former, took over his body.

While Logan knew everyone here would recognize his name, he doubted anyone other than the senior staff would know who he was on the spot. As he passed through the lobby, his suspicions were confirmed. People didn't give him a second glance let alone jump from his path, he almost laughed to himself, knowing how much that would change.

As he headed to his office on the 2nd floor, he decided to take a detour and observe the staff working. One of the first things he learned in shadowing his father and then again in London was that the initial assessments he could make based on observations he made before introducing himself told him more about what type of employee his employees actually were than all the endless meetings he had with them did. He knew they were always putting on the best performances for him in those meetings, and it was hard to distinguish what was real.

He stepped off the elevator onto the 5th floor and saw the home of the sports section. The staff was almost entirely male, save the few female secretaries who took notice of him immediately. The younger one gave him a once over before attempting to make him notice her. He rolled his eyes and kept walking. Soon, he found himself in front of 2 guys who were arguing about the front page.

"No the NBA playoffs should be the top story."

"Why? New York doesn't have a team playing. We should go with the draft coverage. The Giants took a Wide Receiver in the first round to match up with Eli, more relevance to fans here."

"But it's just the draft: No one knows how the picks will do. We haven't even seen them in the team mini camps yet."

"They would rather read about their potential than a Pistons/Bucks analysis. That has no connection to New York City other than the Knick's coach LB came here from Detroit. No one here cares."

Logan decided to interrupt, "Excuse me?"

Both men looked up surprised, they hadn't realized he was there, "Can we help you?"

"I was just going to say that even though I might personally want to argue for the NHL playoffs, I would have to argue with you," he said to the first man, "and say the draft is your lead story. Less important, maybe, but it will be read by more New Yorkers."

"That's great, but who are you, and what do you want?"

"I was hoping to talk to the sport editor."

The guy lobbying for the NBA pointed to the other and said, "Looks like you found him."

The department normally had a relaxed atmosphere, and the editor was young so he responded, "I'm not sure who you are yet, but let's talk in my office. You seem to be distracting my female staff." Logan looked over at them and laughed while walking to the office.

The editor had noticed him glance over so offered, "If you're interested I can introduce you," trying to stay casual with his mystery guest.

"I don't think my fiancé would appreciate that," Logan said, and his smile grew remembering he was engaged.

Dan gave a small laugh. "Maybe you should tell them that so they'll get back to work," he commented, while pointing at his door.

"They'll figure it out soon enough," Logan responded. So far, he liked this guy.

"We skipped introductions earlier, I'm Dan Winters."

"You seem young for an editor," Logan responded, trying to delay his introduction a little longer.

"I'm 28, and I am, but I worked hard to get here."

"I don't doubt that," Logan paused and relented, he had to say it, "Logan Huntzberger."

Logan saw a flash of realization cross Dan's face. Once he seemed to get over his shock, Dan questioned, "So, I guess regardless of my vote, the draft will be the top story," with a questioning, yet playful look.

The honesty behind the statement made Logan laugh and respond, "No, that's not my style."

"Okay. So what can I do for you Mr. Huntzberger?"

"Not much right now, it's my first day, and I wanted to meet all the editors and introduce myself to the staff. I also wanted to tell you I will be spending a few hours with each editor to discuss strengths and weaknesses of their section and go over any ideas we have to improve it."

"Sounds like a plan," Dan said nonchalantly.

"I'll be schedule the meeting for sometime in the next few days. Now, can I meet the staff?"

"After you," he said gesturing out the door and both men stood.

Dan gathered the staff and introduced Logan who talked for a few minutes and answered some questions before heading to floor 4.

Logan spent the rest of his morning repeating this process with all the sections. In the afternoon, he went through each section to make an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses and to set up meetings. He finally got home at 6:30 to find Rory on the floor organizing their DVD collection while eating Chinese.

" Logan, hi. I made dinner," she said proudly.

"You _made_ dinner? It looks like carry out," he pointed to her food.

"Well, I _made_ the phone call that resulted in food appearing."

"And this is the same how?" he asked, knowing her answer would be entertaining, if nothing else.

"The main verb is _to make_," she said sounding hopeful.

"If that's what you need to tell yourself."

This earned him a smack on the arm when he leaned down to give her a kiss.

"How was the _Times_?"

"Met a bunch of staff," he said sounding bored.

"Anyone interesting?"

"Mostly got the usual response: sucking up, uncontrollable sweating..."

"That sounds pleasant," she said sarcastically.

"But there was one guy who seemed unfazed by me," he added, remembering his first stop.

"Do tell," she squealed, sounding like a gossiping school girl.

"It was refreshing actually. They were having a conversation about the layout when I jumped in with my opinion. When I had to introduce myself, he made a small joke and continued on."

"Let me guess, Arts?"

"How do you figure that?"

"They obviously didn't fully comprehend who you were so I'm going with too many paint fumes from visiting tightly enclosed back showrooms," she said seriously.

"Interesting theory, but no."

"Then who?"

"Sports editor."

"Ahhh...multiple concussions."

"Why do you assume the person has to have brain damage to not freak out in my presence?"

"Past precedence," she gave with a nod.

"What does that say about you?"

"I had no idea who you were the first time we met."

"Sure you didn't," he said mockingly and then continued, "Well, brain damage or not, it was nice. Time will tell, but I have a meeting with him on Wednesday morning."

"So Huntzberger, tell the truth, how many of the women hit on you?" she teased.

"None, they didn't get the chance; however, I did have all those under 35 vying for my attention."

"Any hot prospects?" she asked sounding excited.

"So, you have a thing for women," he teased, "I'm sure we could arrange a three way one night after work."

"Keeping dreaming," she said rolling her eyes.

"No need to, I just want you," he said. Feeling the need to change the subject before he got in trouble, he added, "Don't your interviews start tomorrow?"

"Yep one in the morning and then two on Wednesday."

--

Yesterday, Rory went to her interview and thought it went well, but it wasn't her first choice. That would be the _Observer_ which is where she was heading now, Wednesday.

Rory walked up to the NYO ready and only slightly nervous.

"Excuse me," she said to the secretary at the front desk, "I have an interview at 10:30 with Mr. Schultz."

"You must be Miss Danes," Rory gave a nod, so the secretary continued, "Please wait over there, he will be out shortly."

Rory sat down, and her mind went into overdrive, 'Okay be professional. Remember to respond to Ella or Miss Danes. Don't fidget. Stop playing with your skirt hem. Sit up straight. Don't ramble...'

Her mental check list was interrupted by, "Good morning Miss Danes."

"Mr. Schultz, it is nice to meet you," she said while standing up.

"Please follow me to my office."

After they were both seated, the standard questioning started.

"I've looked over your resume and just have a few questions for you. First, why do you want to write for the NYO?"

'Ah yes, the lead off question. They all asked the same thing. I should record my responses on CD and then just play them back. This could be track 2...'

"This is a highly respected paper that covers a wide range of news. Although if I were hired, I would be assigned to one section, I would like to think that as I improve and mature my writing, I could be accommodated here by a possible change in assignment."

"And I'm sure we could." He said before asking, "We look for strong leadership, people who can take command. Give me an example of a situation that shows this quality in you."

'Oh yes, track 9...'

"I took a semester off the fall of my junior year for personal reasons. When I returned in January, I found the atmosphere at the paper had changed drastically. The staff was extremely frustrated with the editor. One day, the majority of them quit and walked out midday. I found out what happened and contacted almost everyone and convinced them to come back in. They did, but we were only a few hours from our print time and nothing had been finalized. I organized the staff to get the paper done, and with the help of a few others, we managed to get our print time pushed back an hour, finished, and the paper was out on time."

"I must say I'm impressed, but I'm curious what did the editor do to make that many people up and quit?"

'This isn't on the CD...dammit! Mayday! Mayday! What do I say? Rory, you need to speak…crap, the nerves are coming back, and strong...'

"She kept implementing new rules, like giving us all a hat with a number on it and only referring to us by that number instead of using our names. We were not allowed to talk or type too loudly…think Hitler running a newsroom," she babbled in one breath.

Raising his eyebrows, he said, "Interesting analogy, I hope I haven't unknowingly hired her."

"I can guarantee you a no. She starts medical school in the fall," Rory said, forgetting she was in an interview.

"Where?"

"Johns Hopkins, why?"

"I'm going to avoid the hospital. Moving on, where do you think you would best fit our newspaper?"

'Oh yes! The CD is back…track 7 please.'

"Any section where there is more to the story than an observation or opinion. While I think I am capable of handling any section, except sports, stories that need research and hard work to get an interview or facts is where I am strongest."

"No sports?" he said in what she thought was almost a teasing voice.

"It's in the best interest of the paper," Rory replied in the most serious voice she could muster.

"Honesty," he gave a small nod, paused, and then continued, "I don't think I have any further questions. Did you bring a writing portfolio?"

"Oh sorry," she said quickly, while pulling out a folder, "I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I went for variety. If you would like any more, please let me know."

He flipped through it briefly and said, "No, this looks fine. I'll be looking them over and will contact you within a few days either way."

"Thank you sir," she said while they both stood and shook hands before she exited the office.

--

Once outside the building, she started to freak out and over analyze everything she remembered saying, this was the paper she was hoping to receive an offer from. Without thinking, she hailed a cab and went to the _Times_. Logan had told her his office was on the 2nd floor so she headed up. Noticing it was now 11:45, she thought maybe they could grab lunch.

She found his secretary, a decent looking woman in her upper 30's. She let out a sigh of relief when she wasn't a hot young blonde. She knew Logan wouldn't cheat, but that didn't mean she liked the idea of some woman throwing herself at him everyday.

"Hello, I'm looking for Logan Huntzberger," she greeted in the calmest tone she could find.

"I'm sorry ma'am, he asked not to be disturbed, he is in a meeting. Would you like to leave a message?"

"No thank you," she said, before turning back and pulling out her cell to call him. It went straight to voice mail. She then remembered it was Wednesday, he had said he had a meeting with the sports editor this morning, that couldn't go on for much longer. She walked over checked the directory, saw that sports was on 5 and headed up.

She found the younger secretary first and said, "I'm looking for Logan Huntzberger, I was told he was on this floor."

"He is, but his meeting with Mr. Winters and is not to be disturbed," the secretary said snidely, looking over the woman in case she was competition for the boss's attention.

Rory glanced around the room, everyone seemed relaxed and was, for the most part, calmly working. She was thinking of just waiting for him to finish, wondering how much longer it could really be, when from behind the secretary, she heard, "Are you kidding me? How could you like that movie?"

She recognized it as Logan's voice and then heard his laugh but also noted that the topic was not sports. Clearly the business part of the meeting was over, so she walked up and knocked boldly on the door despite the warnings of the secretary. From behind it, she heard an unknown voice reply, "I'm in a meeting."

Rory rolled her eyes and opened the door, stepped in, and closed it, drowning out the protests from the secretary.

"Excuse me ma'am," Dan started when she entered, but she noticed Logan didn't even turn around to see who it was, "I said I was..."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard, but really try not laughing so loud. I could hear you discussing movies through the door besides when you said '_I'm in a meeting'_ you sounded too happy; it was obvious this had become social so I didn't feel bad coming in. Next time, have more loathing or fear in your voice. It should project the nervousness you feel because you're in a meeting with a high and mighty Huntzberger. It would make your cover of a business meeting more believable," she said seriously, but the teasing nature evident.

Dan started to look worried by some of her comments and glanced at Logan, "I'm sorry for her behavior, I have no idea who she is," before turning back to Rory and saying, "Really ma'am, I'm going to have..."

Waving her hands in the air, she asked, "And when did I become a ma'am? I really cannot look that old. I mean that is the third time today. Before today, never, and I mean **never**, have I been called the evil **_'m'_** word."

At this point, Logan saw the confused slash scared look on Dan's face and decided to speak up but still did not turn around, "Ace, how many cups of coffee have you had today?"

She was finally drawn out of her rant, "I don't see how that is important."

"I'm wondering if your current insanity is due to a coffee withdrawal or a coffee overdose."

"Overdose? Logan, have you learned nothing? There is no such thing as too much coffee."

"Right my mistake," he said, rolling his eyes at Dan who still looked confused, "Was I expecting you today? I mean it's fine that you're here, but..."

"No, I was on autopilot and in the middle of a mental freak out when I found myself here. Then, I saw the time and thought, hey, maybe Logan wants to grab lunch."

Hearing her comment, he looked at the time, "Wow, it's almost noon. That means you already had your interview, how was it? Wait, let me guess, that's why you were in freak out mode?"

"I think most of it went fine, I'll tell you more later. So, lunch?" she said hopefully.

"I would, but we need to get at least one plausible idea for the sports page, and we seem to be stuck."

"Weren't you arguing about a movie when I walked in?"

"Yeah, we were taking a break."

"So, both of you come to lunch, and you can keep thinking, just not too hard, wouldn't want you to get hurt. The change of venue might do you some good, besides, maybe I can help."

Logan looked at Dan who said, "It doesn't matter to me."

"Fine Ace, you win, let's go. There's a deli up the street."

"As in the place that uses lots of lettuce and tomato?"

"Right. There is also a bar and grill that I heard serves chili fries."

Rory smiled, saying, "Sounds like we have a winner," and leading them out of the office.

--

Fifteen minutes later they were being sat at a booth.

"So, we haven't been introduced yet," Dan said sounding slightly nervous, "Dan Winters."

"Oh, I am so sorry, I guess I got carried away at first and skipped that. Rory Gilmore," she said shaking his hand.

"I had a feeling your name wasn't really Ace. So how do you know Logan?" he asked while starting to relax.

"Well, the short version is we met at Yale."

"Did you have class together?"

"No, we were both worked at the paper. And, I use the term work very loosely," she said, nodding in Logan's direction. He quickly clamped his hand over her mouth, "Hush you, I don't need rumors spreading through the office about my college days."

"Mr. Huntzberger, I can..."

"If we are not in the office or in a meeting, please call me Logan. It's still weird to be called that."

"Okay, but only if you call me Dan," when Logan gave a nod he continued, " Logan, I can assure you that I am not one to spread office gossip."

"Well that is good to know, but I was mainly teasing Ace over her. She seems to be giving every answer to your question except the most obvious."

"Now I'm curious," Dan said.

"Fine," she relented, " Logan is my fiancé."

"See, now, how hard was that?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"You have no idea, I think I pulled something."

Before they could continue, the waitress came to get their drink orders. Logan ordered scotch, Dan asked for a gin and tonic, while Rory asked for the largest coffee they had.

Once the waitress left, Dan spoke, "Mister…I mean, Logan mentioned he recently got engaged. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Rory said, while noticing Dan's looks so she asked, "Okay what?"

"Huh?" Dan asked, while looking at Rory surprised.

"You look like you have something else to say, so just say it."

"It's nothing," there was a pause, "It's just I didn't…I mean I was surprised…"

Rory started laughing, "You mean I wasn't what you expected Logan's fiancé to be like?"

"Yeah that," he was glad she wasn't offended.

"It's okay, not many people do. Let me guess, you expected a brain-dead leggy blonde. The typical trophy wife?" she said with a huge grin.

Dan glanced nervously at Logan, it was the truth but he didn't want to offend his boss.

"Ace stop teasing the man, and Dan don't feel bad if that's what you thought," he said, giving Dan an apologetic look, "Hell, a few years ago that would have been my predication. But before this gets any weirder, what happened in your interview that had you so worked up?"

"Okay you know how all interviews have the same types of questions?" Both men nod so she continued, "Right, well I'm doing fine. All of the questions, I was prepared for. Well for one of my answers, I talked about when the whole staff quit so he diverted from the regular list and asked why that happened. So I was stuck, all of sudden nervous, trying to explain Paris's reign of terror and ended up comparing her to Hitler."

Logan and Dan start laughing, and she just looked even more frustrated, "It's not funny. What if I offended him? I mean what if he is Jewish, I don't think he would find jokes about Hitler funny."

"Maybe, but still it is appropriate. I mean those months were horrible," Logan offered.

"Where were you interviewing at?" asked a curious Dan.

"_The Observer_."

"You're a reporter?" Dan blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Let me guess, I surprised you again?" Dan nodded and she said, "When I was 5, I decided I wanted to be an overseas correspondent. Slowly that changed into a journalist, and the next thing I knew, I was at Yale usurping the throne from the editor."

Dan's curiosity finally got the best of him, "Okay I have to ask, what's the story?"

Rory told a more detailed version of the story and before long, he was agreeing about the Hitler reference.

Soon the waitress returned with drinks and was ready to take there orders.

Logan began, "I'd like a club sandwich with fries."

"Okay and for you?" she asked, turning to Rory.

"I'd like the bacon cheeseburger hold the lettuce, onion, and tomato with a double order of chili cheese fries."

"How would you like it cooked?"

"Medium."

"And for you sir?"

"Can I just get a burger and fries?"

"Sure thing," she said collecting the menus and leaving.

"There is no way you can eat that much," Dan said, looking at the fairly small woman across from him.

"That's what I thought at first, but she can. It's shocking every time."

"I'll take your word on that."

"So what is your sports page predicament that you needed an idea for oh so badly?" Rory said, not wanting to have to explain her eating habits yet again.

Logan decided to explain, "Okay so the _Times_ is a New York paper."

"Hence the name _New York Times_," she said sarcastically.

"That's why you're Ace. Now, as we all know, it is read by people nationwide."

"I'm failing to see the problem," she interjected again.

"Right, well most news overlaps or just has its own section all together like national versus city, but sports is a problem. Take right now. Most of the nation wants to know about the NBA or NHL playoffs, but New York doesn't have any teams playing in either. The only thing going on related to the city was the draft last weekend or early season baseball."

Dan adds on, "And the draft is really only interesting for a few more days, which basically leaves us with baseball. Right now, the Yankees and the Mets are both at the top of their divisions, but we're not even 30 games in so it's not that significant yet."

"Why don't you play up the inner city rivalry?' Rory asks.

"Maybe, but how?"

"Well don't they play each other?"

"Yeah, in a few weeks and then again in a few months," Dan supplied.

"So why not the week before run like a week long series in point counter-point format. Like maybe…day 1, talk about who has better fans; day 2, who has a better stadium/traditions; day 3, coaching and management; day 4, if you made a team of the best players ever from each team who would win; and the last day, who will win the upcoming game. Or something like that, I don't know!"

Neither Dan nor Logan said anything for a few seconds so Rory continued, "Or, it's a dumb idea, you know I know nothing about sports…I'll stop talking now."

"No, that's not it. I just don't know why we didn't come up with something like that," Dan said. Dan had to admit he felt a little out of place at first, but Rory was a riot, and it wasn't nearly as odd talking to his boss outside of work as he would have thought. The conversation continued while they ate.

Finally, it was time for the guys to return to the office, and Rory had her next interview.

After they parted at the entrance of the restaurant, Logan said, "I hope that wasn't too awkward for you."

"I'll admit at first I was a little unsure, but I had fun. Rory seems like she would always be high energy, reminds me of my wife."

"You're married?" Logan asked surprised, he never thought to ask.

"For six months now," he said pointing to his ring finger.

"Sorry, I'm a typical guy and didn't notice. So how weird is it?" he asked, truly curious, since Colin and Finn weren't married he'd never really thought to ask anyone else.

"Most men don't. Well, we didn't live together before, so that was the only real change," he offered truthfully.

"We've lived together for almost a year now," he pointed out.

"So then, it shouldn't be that hard," Dan replied, trying to sound reassuring.

"I hope you're right," Logan said as they walked back into the office and went their separate ways.

--

**_A/N: PLEASE review! Other than that, I know this isn't the most exciting chapter, but I wanted to show Logan (and will show Rory) in their work environment. _**

**_Question: I happen to love Finn and have a story line for him in this fic. Just wondering how interested you are in it: low (only mention it when talking to Rory or Logan), medium (a couple scenes mixed in from Finn's POV), or high (2-3 chapters mixed in on the issue)? I know I'm being vague, but I can't really explain it easily. I plan on including it later on no matter what, just trying to decide to what degree. The focus will stay a Rogan, but please let me know!_**


	7. Glittery Kookaburras

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

**_A/N: First, thanks for the input on the Finn story. It does tie in with the story of Rory and Logan, it's not like some random tangent about him going to Australia on vacation for 2 months, and is mixed within the plot. Second, my intent with this story is to show all aspects of Rory and Logan's life, and while a huge part of that is work (and will keep going throughout), it is also going to include their social life (and therefore their friends). Right now, I have 30 chapters outlined, and it is nearly an even mix of the two, but if anything is slightly more work related. The future chapters are in the same style as the one ones I have posted so I hope this keeps everyone happy because while I have my plan, I write for you to enjoy!!_**

_**The only other thing I wanted to include here which I didn't include in the first chapter was some character information.**_

**_Logan_** **_is 24 and Rory is 22 (all ages are my guess based off the show)_**

**_Finn Morgan is 25. His father owns and is CEO of Morgan Corporation, they own hotels and resorts worldwide. His family also owns a vineyard in Australia. Finn is overseeing the US_** **_branch of the company. He lives in a penthouse across the hall from Rory and Logan._**

**_Colin McCrae is 25 and is attending Columbia_** **_Law school. He and Stephanie Vanderbilt (24) have been dating 1 year and live together near the campus, about 15 minutes away from the others._**

_**Everything else will be in the story.**_

--

Rory's third interview went well. As she waited the next few days to hear back, she distracted herself by doing odds and ends around their home. Late Thursday afternoon, she received a job offer on the entertainment staff at the last place she interviewed. She told them she would let them know within the week.

On Friday, around lunch the phone rang, and she moved to answer it, "Hello."

"May I speak to Miss Danes please," a male voice asked.

"This is she," Rory said nervously.

"Miss Danes, this is Todd Schultz from the _Observer_."

"Good afternoon sir," she replied, her nerves only growing.

"Yes, well, I am calling to offer you a position on our staff. It would be as a reporter in our _City _section. They cover local news…" and he continued to give her the details of the position.

All the while, she was just bursting with excitement, not only did she get a job offer, but one that she was interested in too. When he finished, she accepted the position, and he asked her to start on Monday. Once she hung up, she quickly called Logan, and after a few rings, he answered.

"Huntzberger," he said, not even glancing at who was calling.

"Almost Huntzberger," she joked.

"I like the sound of that."

"How about Logan Gilmore?"

"And why would I do that?" he asked slowly.

"Because you're a modern man?" she questioned.

"No," he said quickly, leaving no room for questions.

"You're no fun today," she pouted, sad the game was over so soon.

"Sorry, just can't wait for it to be the weekend. So, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I have news."

"Of what nature?"

"You are talking to the newest member of the City beat staff at the _Observer_!" she said quickly, trying to not burst with excitement.

"Really?" he asked almost as excited as she was.

"Yes sir, and I do think I will make a fine addition to the Huntzberger Media family," she said mockingly.

"I would agree, so when do you start?"

"8 a.m. Monday," she stated proudly.

"I want to hear more and will when I get home, but right now I have a meeting," he said, regret evident in his voice.

"Okay see you tonight, love you."

"Ummm, okay bye," he said quickly.

"Hold it," she halfway yelled.

"What?" he asked, trying to play dumb.

"Say it back," she demanded.

"Ace…" he practically whined.

"There's someone in your office isn't there?" she inquired while laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked taken aback.

"Are you that embarrassed to say it with someone there?" she questioned, not even trying to hold back her laughter anymore.

Silently cursing her, he went for the truth while remaining vague, "It's a guy thing."

"Really? Well, then, we can make a code," she said now getting excited.

"What?"

"A code, instead of _I love you_, you can say a phrase that will represent it," she said triumphantly.

"Is this really that amusing?" he asked, getting annoyed at her continuous laughter.

"You have no idea."

"So what are you going to make it?" he said, now wanting the conversation to end as quickly as possible.

"Glittery kookaburras," she said in what he deemed her _Lorelai _voice, which always meant trouble.

"No," he said again.

"Logan, you have a choice…" she managed to get out without laughing.

"Fine, glittery kookaburras," he said sounding defeated.

"I can't believe that was your choice, it isn't that bad," she said, giggles lacing her response.

"Goodbye Ace."

"Bye Logan."

Rory was still laughing minutes later, and when she finally calmed down, she remembered the other phone call she needed to make, so she dialed.

"Huntzberger," a voice greeted rather harshly.

"Is it company policy or a genetic defect that makes the men of your family unable to use normal greetings, like hello," she said before thinking.

"Who is this?" he asked, now sounding annoyed.

"Mitchum, it's Rory."

"Oh, hello Rory. What can I do for you?"

"I recently accepted a position at the _Observer_…" she began.

"Congratulations, it's an excellent paper."

"Not to mention the ownership," she joked.

"Very true. I'm guessing this call also means that you want to go forward with your plan and set up the meeting."

"I would."

"When do you start?"

"Monday morning."

"I will call over to the NYO and schedule something and call you back."

"Thanks you, for all of this."

"It's not a problem."

"I'll wait for your call, bye."

"Bye Rory," Mitchum said and then hung up.

A lunch meeting was set up for the Editor in Chief, Mitchum, and Rory for the following day in a private room at a restaurant.

--

Rory was the first to arrive; she waited until she saw Mitchum who noticed the editor was already there. The three were escorted to their table, and as they sat, the silence was finally broken.

"Mr. Huntzberger, I am curious as to the purpose of today's meeting."

"First, this is Rory Gilmore. Rory meet Charles Holmes the Editor in Chief of the _Observer_."

"Nice to meet you sir," Rory said politely.

"Likewise," he said while shaking her hand.

"Rory was hired as City reporter yesterday for your paper," Mitchum began.

"Are you sure? No offense sir, but I give final approval for all new hires, and I don't recall the name."

"The name would have been Ella Danes," Mitchum supplied.

From here, Mitchum and Rory explained the situation and why it was being done. In the end, Charles agreed with them and thanked them for the information. He also told Rory he was leaving the responsibility of when, if ever, she chose to share this information with any or all of her co-workers in her hands.

--

Finally, Monday came. Rory was so excited she woke up at 5:30 and could not go back to sleep. She made coffee, took a shower, and ate breakfast before getting ready. Logan was struggling to hold in his amusement as he watched her mixture of excitement and nervousness escalate as she got ready.

She arrived at the Observer with 5 minutes to spare and went to Mr. Schultz's office.

"Miss Danes, let me get you set up," he said, taking her to get an ID made before showing her to the 4th floor which the City desk shared with Entertainment. Finally, she was introduced to a man in his early 40's, Mike Jacobson, who was her editor. He showed her to her desk, pointed out the break room, and gave her an overview of how he ran things.

In addition to Mike, there were 6 reporters, 3 photographers, and peripheral staff all to whom she was introduced and most she guessed were in there 30's and 40's. Brianna Carter was the last introduction, Rory noted she was the only one who looked her age, and Mike assigned her as the photographer to use when necessary. Finally, the meet and greet was over, and Rory sat at her desk doing research for her first article, the clean up of city parks.

"Excuse me, Ella?" Brianna asked.

Rory looked up trying to not look startled and said, "Brianna right?"

"Yeah, but most people call me Bri," she offered with a smile.

"I can do that," Rory said happy to have a friendly co-worker.

"I just wanted to come over and say hi, I was the newbie about a month ago."

"How bad is it?" Rory asked becoming wary.

"Really, it was fine. Everyone is nice enough, but I'll admit I'm happy to have someone else closer to my age," she said almost shyly.

"You noticed that too?" Rory said happy she wasn't alone on this.

"I did," there was a pause so Bri offered, "Do you want me to show you the coffee?"

"I think I'm going to like you!" Rory said jumping out of her chair.

"Why's that?" Bri asked confused.

"You offered me coffee," she said as if that explained everything.

"A fellow addict?" she wagered.

"Love affair Bri, love affair."

"I'll remember that," and the two girls walked away. After getting their coffee fix, they went back to work, but decided to meet up in the break room for lunch. Rory had brought leftover Chinese and Bri had a sub. The two girls started chatting as they ate.

"So Bri, did you grow up here?" Rory asked not sure where to start.

"Nope, moved here when I got the job. I grew up in a suburb of Albany. You?"

"A small town outside of Hartford," Rory said not bothering to say Stars Hallow.

"Do you like the city?"

"I'm adjusting, but I moved here from New Haven so it wasn't quite as drastic of a change."

"What was there?"

"School, I just graduated from Yale."

"Was it fun?"

"Fun is one word, where did you go?"

"University of Albany, and I'll say there was never a dull moment," Bri answered mysteriously.

"When did you graduate?" trying to gage the girl's age.

"A year and a half ago. I was working at a paper in Albany at first, but when I got the job here, I had to take it. I miss being close to home, but this will help my career."

"I know the feeling. I miss my mom, but I have a few friends here which definitely helps."

"I can imagine. I moved in with my little sister which made it much easier. Do you live by yourself?"

"No, I live with my boyfriend."

"Ohhh...how long have you been together?" she said in gossiping voice to tease Rory.

Rory playfully rolled her eyes, "Just over 2 years."

They were interrupted by Rory's cell phone ringing.

"Hello," she answered.

"Is that how I taught you to answer the phone?" a voice chastised.

"Mom? Great I need to talk to you about something," she turned to Bri, "I'll be back in a minute."

"No problem," Bri said as Rory walked out of the room to take that call in private.

"So Ror, what's up?"

"I need your nicknaming power."

"Ohhh….for who was someone mean to you at work?" she said starting to get defensive.

"No people are nice, it's for Logan," she said knowing her mom would be confused.

"Why?"

"Because eventually he will come here, and I know I'm being paranoid, but I don't want them to think my boyfriend's name is the same as the boss's. If anyone suspects something, it would be too easy to connect."

"Wow, you are paranoid about this...okay, we start with any pre-existing names, oh Limo Boy!"

"It needs to sound like a real name," Rory said in a patronizing tone.

"So any other nicknames that I don't know about?"

"Well people call him Huntz, and once he told me to call him Master and Commander, which was just ridiculous, but other than those, nope, nothing."

"Well you can't use Huntz that's easier to figure out than Logan," Lorelai said thinking out loud.

"Really?" she said sarcastically.

"Don't be rude while mommy is trying to think," there was silence as Lorelai was thinking, "How about Mac?"

"Where did this come from?"

"**M**aster **A**nd **C**ommander."

"I knew you were the master for a reason," Rory said happily.

"I expect a statue within a week."

"I'll let Mac know."

"Oh, I'll call Logan and tell him. I haven't made fun of him in a while," Lorelai offered.

"Fine, but when he asks it wasn't my idea. So why did you really call?"

"Just wanted to see how your first day was going."

"Good, one of the girls I work with seems really nice, other than that just starting my first article."

"Okay babe, I'm gonna call Mac now."

"Bye mom," she said, hoping her mom wouldn't harass Logan too much and headed back to lunch.

"My mom," she said to Bri, giving her an eye roll.

"Everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, she was just asking about my first day."

The girls continued chatting through there lunch, having a great time, and were disappointed when they had to go back to work.

--

An hour or so later, a delivery man showed up looking for Ella, he had a bouquet of sunflowers.

"Those are beautiful Ella, who sent them?" Bri gushed after rushing over.

"I don't know, let me check," she pulled out the card, read it and then showed Bri. It said:

_Ace,_

_Hope you're having a wonderful first day._

_Relax, I know you'll do great._

_Love, Mac_

"I'm guessing Mac is the boyfriend," Bri asked when she finished reading.

"Yep," and then smiled realizing her mom must have talked to Logan.

"A romantic, you're lucky."

"I promise, he isn't usually like this. He picks his days, and they aren't that often," she said seriously.

"But still it's sweet."

"It is," Rory said trying to figure out what had motivated this.

Rory finished around 5:03 and went home. To her surprise, Logan was already home and it looked like he made dinner...

"Logan?" she called out.

He came into the room, "Hey, how was your day?"

"Really good. Thank you for the flowers, they were beautiful."

"I wanted to do something nice for your first day. Then your mom called, my secretary thinks she is insane by the way, to don me with my new name so I decided to send them so I could try out the new name."

"It wasn't my idea for her to call."

"She told me. So I'm Mac now?"

"Yep, very swift with the card by the way."

"I try."

"So what's for dinner?"

"I barbecued steak, and then made mashed potatoes and rolls. I'd like to note the use of the word **made**."

"Sounds good, and you really need to let that go."

"Well I was done early today and thought I'd demonstrate the proper use of the word. Are you enjoying the food?"

"Of course," she said smiling.

They ate dinner and talked then relaxed in front of the TV before calling it a night.

The rest of the week at work, Rory researched and interviewed city officials for her article. She spent most of her lunches talking to Bri who she really liked. She had friends, but she realized how long it had been since she made a new one so was enjoying it. The two had a lot of common interests, especially music and movies, but in general, they just had fun talking about nothing and everything.

They even got to go out on assignment to take pictures for Rory's article. Rory finished the article by Thursday, handed into her editor, and began researching her next piece. She was happy on Friday when her article came back with only a few minor changes needed. Overall, her editor had been, as he said, '_pleasantly surprised_,' by her article, which Rory couldn't be more pleased about.

--

_**A/N: As always please review and I hope you liked it!**_

**_My only comment on this chapter is yes, I had "Ella" talk about her boyfriend (not fiancé), if you're confused please see chapter 4. _**


	8. Huntzberger Whore House

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

--

Over the next 2 weeks Rory and Logan fell into a routine. They each left their office by 6:00p.m. every night and took turns _making_ dinner, using both definitions of the word. They saw their friends whenever they could, and not to say that everything was perfect, but both were happy living together. Lorelai and Luke even came up one weekend to see their place which made Rory happy because, although she loved the city, she missed her mom too.

At work, Logan had been working hard to make small but significant changes to the various sections of the paper. There were also some business and management issues that needed to be addressed. He and Dan had lunch a few times, once to discuss the success of Rory's idea, and the others to try and find other ways to make the section both more universal and specific to NYC.

Rory completed several articles and was happy because her editor seemed to like them. She fit in with her co-workers, but was thankful to have Bri around. The two talked most days during lunch and had fun going out on assignment together. They both had learned a great deal about the other in the short time they had known each other.

--

It was now the first week of June and today, Tuesday the 6th, was Logan's 25th birthday. Although the boys had made plans for a poker night that weekend, Rory decided to get the 5 of them together for dinner and drinks today after work. This was why she and Steph were sitting at a round table waiting for the boys. Each girl had a drink, Steph a strawberry daiquiri and Rory a long island iced tea. They kept looking around wondering where the guys were when someone said, "Rory?"

She looked up and noticed two people, but only recognized him, "Dan? Hey, how have you been?"

"Good, I heard you got the job. How do you like it?" he asked truly curious.

"I love it!" she exclaimed before adding, "so what are you doing here?"

"Just going out after work to relax a bit before heading home."

"Well then you should join us," she said gesturing to the table.

"I wouldn't want to intrude, it looks like your waiting for people," he declined politely.

Steph jumped in, "It's only the stooges, they won't mind."

"Oh sorry, Steph this is Dan. He is the sports editor at the Times. Dan meet Steph a good friend of mine," Rory introduced. She also noticed the very unhappy look on his companion's face and didn't want to be the cause of any problems. Dan thankfully seemed to sense it too so he spoke up, "Rory, Steph this is my wife Katie."

"Nice to meet you," both girls said, and Rory added, "really you should join us."

Receiving a nod from Katie, Dan agreed and pulled up 2 more stools.

"Do you work at the Times as well," Katie asked trying to make conversation and figure out how this girl knew her husband. She trusted him, but part of her couldn't help being jealous.

"No, I write for the Observer," she said with a smile trying to calm Katie.

"Okay, so not to regress this conversation, but who are the three stooges we are waiting for?" Dan asked. He had been curious since it was mentioned.

"Logan, Colin, and Finn," Steph answered, "Logan and Colin have been friends since they were 4, and Finn joined their ranks at 10. They have been as close as brothers since. In high school and college, they were always doing crazy and stupid things getting them in trouble; although, in the last year they've grown up a little bit and have added a responsible side."

"But everyone has to grown up eventually, even boys, right?" Katie asked sending a playful look to Dan.

"Well, maybe, but I was added to the group when I was 6 and after bailing them out of jail on 4 continents I had my doubts," Steph said seriously, but Rory saw her smile at the memories.

"What did they do?" Katie asked, nervously wondering what kind of people these were.

"Oh, nothing to serious just stupid things," Steph said sensing the girl's worry, "disturbing the peace, public intoxication…nothing that resulted in more than a fine."

"So, do you guys go out often?" Dan said wanting to change the subject.

"Nope, today is Logan's birthday," said Rory cheerfully.

Dan suddenly felt out of place and began to stand, "We should go, really…"

"Why? I know for a fact Logan enjoys your lunches, I mean you're the only person he chooses to talk to. He says the rest of the staff always freaks out when he comes around and starts sucking up to him at every opportunity. I believe his words were, _'I can't stand them, I just want to smack them whenever they talk_._'_ Apparently they can't get it out of their head he's not his father." Rory finished her mini-rant.

"Who's his father?" a now curious Katie asked.

"Mitchum Huntzberger," Steph said with a wave of her hand.

"Making the person in question Logan Huntzberger…" Katie mumbled quietly, putting the names together; then she looked at Steph and said, "you've known him since you were 6?"

"Yeah, but hey I'm not the one marrying him," she said looking at Rory.

"Sorry about her, she's a masters student in journalism at NYU," Dan said apologetically.

"Don't worry I had the same reaction the first time too."

Katie was still looking surprised when the 3 boys walked up.

"Well well well," Steph said without even looking at them, "speak of the devil."

"My father isn't here," replied Colin dryly.

"So where have you been? We were about to send a search party," Rory asked.

The three glanced at each other.

"What did you do?" demanded Steph.

"Nothing, I swear," Colin said feeling her eyes on him.

"Try again," Steph said looking at Logan.

"It's my birthday!" He said with a smirk. Steph just tapped her foot and looked at Finn.

"Oh keep your pants on kitten. We just had Frank take the long way so we could have some pre-dinner drinks," he said innocently, then trying to change the subject he said to Rory, "What are you drinking?"

"Nothing," she replied trying to finish it in the next sip. She failed, so Finn picked up the glass and tasted it then did the same to Steph's.

"No," was all he said.

"What do you mean no?" Steph asked trying to get her drink back.

"No, you can't drink those I taught you better. Don't worry I'll go to the bar and get you new drinks."

"Finn the bartender won't know what you're talking about" Rory said.

"I'm making them myself," he said as if she should have known.

"They can't let you behind the bar, they'll lose their liquor license," Katie said seriously. Finn looked at her as if he just realized she was there.

"I'm terrible at this today. Gentlemen, this is Dan who works at the Times and his wife Katie. Guys this is Finn, Colin, and Logan," Rory introduced while pointing to each.

"Rory invited us, but if you'd rather we…" Dan began apologetically.

"Dan, it's fine. It'll be fun, trust me, and you're more than welcome," Logan said while finally taking the seat next to Rory and kissing her briefly.

"Okay Katie," Finn started now that he knew her name, "see how this bar is attached to a hotel?" She nodded so he continued, "well I own this hotel; therefore, this bar and one of the perks is they let me mix my own drinks," he said happily.

"Huh…" Katie said not sure what else to say.

"Which brings me to you pet, I need to know what you want before I head up," Finn said still looking at her.

"Who me? I don't usually drink hard liquor," she said, mildly embarrassed.

"Why not?" unsure how else to reply to that kind of declaration.

"Don't like the taste."

"If I make something will you at least try it? I promise if you don't like it Rory or Steph will drink it."

She hesitated before saying, "Ummm….sure"

Now that Finn knew her order he moved onto Dan, "Do you drink scotch?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod. With that, Finn headed to the bar.

"So Katie, what do you do?" Logan asked.

"I'm finishing up my masters at NYU," she answered briefly.

"What in?"

"Journalism," Katie said shyly.

"Will you be telling everyone you met me tomorrow in class" Logan teased. Katie looked down embarrassed.

Logan laughed, "I was just teasing. Really as long as you don't go spreading rumors about me it doesn't really bother me."

"Really?" she said hopefully.

"Nope, you should have seen Ace here, she did the same thing," he said glancing at Rory.

"I just want to say that was after I had basically called him an egotistical jackass," Rory interjected.

"And threatened to stalk him," added Colin.

"It was for a story!" she yelled, "and watch it Huntzberger or you won't get your presents."

"I get more than one?" he asked surprised.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she said grinning.

Finn returned, setting a drink in front of Rory and Steph. He placed 2 in front of Katie.

"I didn't know which you would like so I made both. One is Rory's favorite: it's more chocolate-y, and the other is Steph's, more like a hard candy."

Katie took a sip of each and then asked, "Do these even have much alcohol in them?"

Steph laughed, "Yes, they are like 90 percent alcohol so while it tastes harmless, it isn't. I warn you now, pace yourself." Katie gave a nod.

Finn finished by placing a bottle of scotch and 4 glasses down for the guys.

"I have to ask, what's in it," a curious Katie asked pointing to her drink.

"Sorry, secret recipe," Finn said slyly.

Dan and Katie talked for a bit finishing their drinks before leaving to go home and have dinner. Soon after they left the waitress came and took their dinner orders, everyone happy to finally get some food into their system.

When the waitress left, Rory pulled out a bag and handed it to Logan. "So I brought a gift for you to open now," she declared with a smirk on her lips.

"Okay," he said slowly looking at the bag nervously. He opened it and found a bird stuffed animal covered in glitter. He just stared at it, as did everyone else. The table was silent.

"Love, why did you get him a kookaburra?" Finn asked breaking the silence.

"This is a kookaburra? I just thought you made the word up!" said a shocked Logan.

"No mate, it's a bird. An Australian bird. So I ask again, why?" while looking directly at Rory.

Rory looked happily at Finn, and Logan realized that she had hoped for the question. "Funny story really..." and she told them about their code. Everyone was laughing by the end, except for Logan.

"Why would you refuse to say what we all know is true? That is one thing I will never understand about guys!" said Steph.

"We all saw how you looked at her when she jumped with you at the LDB event. You hadn't even been on a date or kissed or anything and we all knew you were falling in love with her. Why would you try and hide it now?" Colin pointed out.

"I did not fall in love with her then!" exclaimed a frustrated Logan.

"You may not have realized it mate, but you did"

"And you know my feelings better than me because...?" Logan inquired sarcastically.

"You were always calm and confident around women, but after you jumped you weren't sure what to do anymore. Or better yet, you couldn't figure her out." Colin explained simply.

Logan didn't know what else to say so the subject was changed and they continued to talk. Their food arrived not a moment too soon. When they finished, their conversation was interrupted by Logan's phone.

He glanced at the caller ID and groaned. Rory leaned over, saw who it was and asked, "Do you want me to get rid of her?" Logan nodded and placed his head down on the table.

"Huntzberger Whore House, Candi speaking" Rory greeted in a fake accent and she saw Logan's head shoot up. A woman could be heard ranting through the phone.

Rory continued without losing her stride. "Today's special is a two for one deal. You can choose any two of the following for your session and only pay for one: handcuffs, whips, whip cream…" She was cut off again by the caller.

"I'm sorry Mr. Huntzberger cannot come to the phone right now he is currently in a session with Jewel and Destiny." There is a pause, before she answered, "well, it's our birthday discount, the second girl is half price. He sounded excited to give it a try….I'm sorry ma'am it's against company policy to interrupt out clients; ruins the mood…No I don't know when they'll finish. I can't predict his stamina…"

During all of this Logan was grabbing for the phone while everyone else was laughing.

"Before you go ma'am remember we host all female parties as well, please consider us for yours. Thank you," and she hung up.

"If there are rumors about me and hookers in the near future, you can only blame yourself," Logan said taking his phone back.

Rory shrugged her shoulders and said, "Did you like the alliteration in my intro?"

"Whore starts with a _w_ not an _h_," Logan said without thinking.

"True, however auditorily,the _h_ is the lead sound. The _w_ is silent," Rory said seriously.

"But it's still there," Logan pointed out.

"I say it's alliteration. If you don't like it blame the education system."

"You're a journalist somehow I think you learned your alphabet along the way," he said with an eye roll.

"Fine, I'll be more specific, I blame the 3 R's philosophy," she deadpanned.

"Relevance?" he asked while sipping his drink.

"If they can use the name _3 R's_, my intro qualifies as alliteration. I say that program alone proves what is wrong with education today. And people ask why kids aren't smart?"

Logan just stared at her so she started up again, "Logan come on, haven't you ever thought about it? Of the supposed _3 R's_, reading, writing, and arithmetic only one actually starts with an R."

Logan laughed, "I guess I never thought about it."

"How is that possible? It's bothered me since it was initiated in my elementary school."

Rory and Logan continued to banter as the others watched on, and Colin made the comment, "I swear it's their foreplay, gets them all hot and bothered."

"Yeah before they were together this would happen and they would walk away annoyed, but now I realize it was just sexual frustration." Steph commented and they all turned back to the couple.

"Logan your mom didn't know it was me!" Rory practically yelled her arms waving in the air.

"Shira was on the phone!" Finn said, but was ignored.

"Well eventually I will have to tell her to make her realize it was a joke, and you know she can't take a joke," Logan said.

"Does it really matter? She hates me anyways, what difference does it make if she thinks I'm a slut too? No wait she's already called me a gold digging whore, so it's nothing new," Rory got out as tears started to form.

"Rory…"

"Oh this should be good, you called me Rory. Logan, save it. Your mother has made herself perfectly clear, don't worry I can leave and you can still call the Fallon girl," Rory ranted knowing she was unfairly taking this out on Logan.

"Fallon?" Colin asked. "Now she really is a gold digging whore," trying to lighten the mood.

"Seriously, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up she said she was going to marry rich and never work a day," Steph added trying to prove Colin's point.

"And really Shira should be able to tell. I mean it takes one to know one," Finn added for good measure.

"Finn! Could you please refrain from calling my mother a whore?" Logan said looking annoyed.

The argument was again interrupted by Logan's cell phone.

"I'm going to the restroom," Rory stated and then looked at Steph who stood and followed.

"Women," Colin muttered.

"Huntzberger," Logan said answering his phone.

"Logan I didn't catch all of the details, but your mother seems to think you're in a brothel."

"She can't take a joke" he said seriously.

"I need more than that," a confused Mitchum stated.

"I didn't feel like talking so Rory answered my phone," he paused, trying to explain the rest. Finally he asked, "You know Lorelai's sense of humor?"

Mitchum thought and then remembered his trip to Stars Hallow, "Sort of…"

"Well Rory has the same kind," Logan said, as if that explained it.

"Meaning?" he asked pressing for more information.

"She answered my phone in a fake accent saying _'Huntzberger Whore House, Candi speaking,'_ and then continued the charade for a while."

"I'll try and calm your mother down," Mitchum sighed.

"Does she really hate Rory?" Logan asked after a pause.

"Why would you ask that?"

"It's what Rory seems to think," Logan said sounding defeated.

"And why would she think that?"

"I'm not sure when, but apparently mom called Rory a gold digging whore and then mentioned the Fallon chick again."

"Logan, I'll admit I wondered for a while if Rory was with you for the name and all it implies, but since your engagement I've been rethinking the situation…"

"And now?" he pressed.

"I don't know her well enough yet. But, either she's a really good actress, and did all of this to trick us, or she's not with you for your name. I will say from what I've seen so far I'm leaning towards the latter."

"You can't be serious! She's not after our money!" he yelled, starting to get mad.

"Maybe, but in our position you can never be too careful."

"When will you believe it?" he asked impatiently.

"I just need time Logan," Mitchum said briefly.

"And mom?"

"She doesn't know what's been going on. Rory's plan and such, so I think she still has more reservations than I do. However, it was inappropriate for her to say anything to Rory. I'll talk with her later." Mitchum said in a voice that did not invite any more questions.

"Thank you, but right now I have to go find Rory," Logan said while looking around the bar.

"I understand. Goodbye Logan"

"Bye" Logan uttered before both men hung up.

--

Rory and Steph made it to the bathroom just before Rory started crying. Steph, not sure what else to do, gave her a tight hug.

"Want to talk about it?" Steph asked timidly.

"My future mother-in-law thinks I'm a whore. What is there to say?"

"Look Rory, don't let her get to you too much. I mean, the first time I met you I figured you were just another girl _in line_. It took me about a minute to figure out otherwise, but still it was my first thought."

"Gee thanks," Rory said through her tears.

"Well the 4 of us are protective of each other. It's a natural defense in our world. And if any of us had any indication that you were after Logan's money, trust me, you would have known."

Rory gave a small smile, but was still upset, "What about Shira?"

"Maybe instead of avoiding her, and Mitchum for that matter, you should show her she's wrong. It might take some time, but this isn't just something you can change overnight."

Rory started to calm down a bit and wiped her eyes, "Thanks Steph, you're good at this."

The girls stayed a few minutes longer, allowing Rory to regain her composure, and then headed back to their table. On the way, they saw Logan coming towards them. He could tell Rory had been crying.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"I didn't mean to yell at you," she said feeling bad for her earlier behavior.

"You were upset," he justified.

"Still…"

"When did she say those things to you?" Logan asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"She didn't really say them to me per se. It was when we were at their house to tell them about our engagement. When you and Mitchum went into his study neither of us said anything. After a while, she would glance at me and mutter under her breath. I told you what I could understand."

"I never thought any of that about you," he said in a low voice.

"Logan, it's okay if you did. I mean, it's only natural to wonder in your position."

"But I never did. I don't really remember meeting you at the coffee cart, so I can't say I was thinking about that. Our second meeting, well lets just say the only things I was sure of when I left was, one – you like to argue, and two – you are not impressed by money."

Rory stopped to remember their first encounter, "I guess I can see that."

"So don't worry about my mom, she doesn't matter. This is between us," he said confidently.

"Logan she does matter. No matter how hard you try, at the end of the day she's your mom. But Steph suggested I stop avoiding her and make her see the real me," she said, trying to sound confident.

"Ah, Steph is smart. A lot of people get distracted by her blondness and don't realize," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, I'm quite aware," Rory said with a small smirk on her lips.

"So are we good?" Logan asked pulling her against him.

She nodded and leaned in for a lingering kiss.

"And on that note, I think it's time to head home," he said mockingly.

They went back to their table to take care of the bill only to find that Colin had paid for the food and Finn the bar tab. When they left Finn, Rory and Logan went with Frank who dropped them off at their building, while Colin and Steph had their driver take them home.

--

When Rory and Logan got home, Rory pulled him to the couch and reached behind it. She pulled up 3 boxes, all wrapped. "The rest of your gifts," she said smiling.

She handed him the first which contained a two sided frame, each with a different picture of them.

She decided to explain, "I thought your office could use some pictures, and I'm partial to those that include me." He gave a short laugh, but agreed. She handed him the next box which had two sets of heavy duty poker chips, four new decks of cards and a certificate for the delivery of a new poker table.

The final box she gave him reluctantly. He opened it to see a can of whip cream and a jar of chocolate sauce. He just stared at her unsure what to say.

Quietly, she said, "One morning you were talking in your sleep. I figured you were dreaming, well anyways, it seemed you were enjoying this idea," glancing at the gift. He silently nodded his head. She stood up, walked over to him, pulled him to his feet, and walked them to their bedroom. Before stripping, she whispered "happy birthday" into his ear and then they continued with their evening.

--

**_A/N: You know the drill, read and review!_**

_**Thank you to my new beta, Christi!**_


	9. Worms or Cheese

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

--

Rory sat down at her desk to begin her work day. She was drinking more coffee than usual, which combined with her nerves was making her very high strung. She was working on her article, but for the life of her, it wasn't coming together. Normally, she was the queen of organization, but everything seemed to be going wrong.

She had gone for an interview the day before, and Bri accompanied her to take the photos. This morning she planned on reviewing her notes and making an outline, but had just spilled her coffee on part of her notes. On top of that, for the life of her, she couldn't find the photos for the article. As she was cleaning up her spilled coffee, she was silently thankful the whole interview was on tape.

Next, she went in search of Bri to see if she still had the negatives and could redevelop the needed pictures. She spent the rest of the morning listening to the interview and taking new notes, getting her research under control, and was very thankful when lunch came. Usually she and Bri brought their food, but Rory convinced her to go out which gave her time to relax. They were talking and enjoying themselves as usual, and before they knew it, they saw the time and realized they were going to be late.

--

Logan arrived at the _Observer_ around 9:30 and briefly stopped by the Editor in Chief's office to let him know he was there. He then began making his way through the building. The meetings with the editors and staff were similar to his first day at the _Times_, but because he wouldn't be at this paper on a daily basis, all of them lasted a bit longer.

As he visited the various sections, he found most editors were of the same breed as those at the _Times_. He was relieved to finally take his lunch, originally he had wanted to have lunch with Rory except here they were only supposed to be acquaintances from the YDN. As he returned, he realized where he was headed next and was happy just to see her. He entered the 4th floor City department and glanced around, but didn't see Rory…interesting. Trying not to become flustered by her absence, he found a secretary and asked for Mike Jacobson. A minute a later the man appeared, "May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Logan Huntzberger," but before he could, continue Mike jumped in.

"Mr. Huntzberger, I wasn't expecting you. Please excuse my rudeness."

It took everything Logan had not to roll his eyes, "Not at all. I was hoping to meet the staff, have a short meeting with you, and then spend some time observing everyone work."

"Of course, let me get everyone together for you," he offered and hurried off.

A few minutes later, Logan found himself standing next to Mike in front of The City staff waiting to get started.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce Logan Huntzberger. Mr. Huntzberger, meet The City staff," and he began pointing out writers, photographers, and secretaries. Logan, however, wasn't paying attention; he was scanning the group looking for Rory and becoming increasingly more worried when he couldn't spot her. Just as Mike was finishing his introductions, the elevator doors opened, and he saw 2 women step out. They noticed the gathered group and tried to discretely blend into the back.

When they thought they were in the clear, Logan spoke up, "Miss Danes, you're late. Hasn't anyone told you the early bird gets the worm?"

Rory looked up, caught his eye, and couldn't resist a retort. Without missing a beat, she smirked at him and said, "But the second mouse gets the cheese, and I for one would definitely prefer the cheese."

As soon as she said it, Mike was apologizing, "Mr. Huntzberger, let me apologize for her behavior…"

Logan quieted him with the wave of a hand, "So Ella, who is your partner in crime this time?"

Bri looked up and said, "Brianna Carter, sir."

Before more words could be exchange, Mike ushered Logan into his office. When the doors closed behind the men, the gossip started to fly.

The first comment was directed towards Rory, "I can't believe you said that to him? Do you know who he is?"

"Logan Huntzberger," Rory said in a monotone voice.

"Which brings me to my next point, how did he know your name?"

"I went to Yale," she said, as if this explained everything.

"Yes, I had heard that, but still need more."

"And we spent some mutual time on the Yale Daily News staff," she said simply. This seemed to end that line of questioning so Rory went back to her desk, but could still hear some of the staff talking.

"He's cute," one of the secretaries gushed.

"He's engaged," an older reporter replied.

"So?" she leered in the direction Logan had gone off.

"I heard he never went to class and was only allowed to graduate because his father made a rather large donation," someone else said.

"What about being arrested, I heard that has happened more than once."

"I wonder what he did?" one of the photographers inquired.

"I wonder what his fiancé is like, I bet she is drop dead gorgeous," one of the male reporters said suggestively.

"No one is sure. It was weird actually, usually a photo accompanies an engagement announcement, but for his it didn't."

"I bet she is the typical trophy wife, no brains…just there to smile and look pretty on his arm," a female writer commented, sounding suspiciously jealous.

"And what man would complain about that? I sure wouldn't."

Rory finally tuned them out and got back to work, but wished the day would just end.

--

Inside Mike's office, Logan took a seat.

"Mr. Huntzberger, I would again like to apologize on behalf of Miss Danes. She is a recent graduate, and still needs to learn some news etiquette, but I assure you her articles are excellent."

Logan was having a harder time keeping quiet than he imagined. As he was fighting off laughter, Mike began to look even more nervous so he continued talking.

"Normally she is on time, Brianna too. It's something we pride ourselves on," he offered while he pulled up past performance reviews on his computer to show Logan as proof. When he did this, he began looking them over and added, "Actually I think this was the first time either of them were late."

Logan decided he needed to speak up before this continued much longer, "Mr. Jacobson, it's fine. I've seen Ella work in a newsroom before. I know her dedication to a paper."

Obviously surprised, he half yelled, "What? How?" wanting to know the extent of the young woman's connection.

"We were both on the Yale paper: She was well known around there for having the most stories on the front page. Quite talented."

"I'm sure her number of bylines was only second to you. No need for modesty."

'Man this guy is worse than Doyle,' Logan thought, before deciding a subject change was needed. "Enough about her, what can you tell me about your section?"

The two men continued their discussion of the section and what they both felt needed to be improved. While Logan was annoyed by the man's uncanny ability to kiss his ass, he also noted that he knew what he was doing as an editor. It seemed like Mike would run a good office if Logan wasn't around. He didn't want to use Rory for inside information, but he wanted to know about his normal behavior and decided to ask her later. Finally, after 45 minutes, the men exited the office. Logan went to talk to one of the more seasoned reporters, while Mike rushed over to Rory and Bri.

Bri had redeveloped the photos before lunch, and now they were both looking them over when Mike spoke, "You two are lucky you kept your jobs."

"What?" Rory was suddenly very focused on Mike.

"Mr. Huntzberger was very upset by your tardiness and found your comment incredibly inappropriate. Luckily, I managed to convince him this was not your standard behavior."

Rory noticed Bri start to look worried; although, she highly doubted that is what happened, but played along to get rid of Mike. She said, "I am sorry for any problems it caused, maybe I should apologize myself."

Mike looked satisfied with her compliance, and said, "Yes I think that would be best."

Rory gave a wicked grin before saying, "Huntzberger, get over here," loud enough for him to hear over the chatter.

He looked at her unsure what she was up to so went with a generic response, "That won't work anymore, you seem to have forgotten our roles are reversed now."

"Are you still bitter I was your editor, meaning you had to follow my orders?"

"No, you're wrong there, and don't worry I'll eventually see you as I make my rounds."

They both went back to what they were doing previously. Time passed, and Logan walked up as Rory and Bri were discussing some editing on the photos that needed to be done. They were so absorbed in their work they didn't notice his approach.

He decided to speak up, "Excuse me," he said in a low voice.

"Mr. Huntzberger," a startled Bri said, "I'm truly sorry for my tardiness earlier, it doesn't happen often. Don't fire us!" She blurted the last part out before she could stop herself.

Logan glanced at Rory, unsure what had motivated her to say this and then replied, "Brianna right?" She nodded so he continued, "You're not being fired. Why would you think that?"

Bri stayed silent not wanting to cause problems which Rory took as her cue to speak, "Mike said you were upset about earlier and wanted to fire us."

Logan looked to Bri for confirmation, "Is this true?"

"Yes sir, but please don't. I really need this job. I promise it won't happen again."

Logan tried to give her a reassuring smile, "Mike told me that you are both very punctual, he even pulled up your performance reviews as proof. I'm not sure why he told you that, but I assure you, the thought of firing either one of you never even occurred to me, let alone, discussed it with Jacobson."

He saw Bri breath a sigh of relief and decided he could safely change the subject, "What are you working on?"

Bri seemed to regain some confidence, and Rory was more than happy to stay silent as she spoke. "We went out on assignment yesterday and are now looking over the photos to decide what, if any, editing needs to be done."

Logan looked at the desk and saw a few pictures lying out. He motioned to them and asked, "May I?" Bri handed them to him.

He looked them over and then said, "They look good, but if you use this one cut out the billboard in the background. Wouldn't want to give them free advertising," He smirked at Rory as he set them down.

"Is there anything else you wanted Logan?" Rory asked, deciding to speak up.

He paused to think about it. He wasn't sure if he should ask her with Bri there, but he remembered Rory always spoke highly of her and went for it, "One more thing. Is Jacobson always like this, or is he acting strange because I'm here?"

Rory again noticed Bri was uncomfortable answering the question and answered, "Oh don't worry, it's all you. Usually, it's fairly calm around here, well based on news room standards. He really is a good editor, his stunt to us just now, aside."

Logan seemed pleased with this response so he excused himself and continued around the room. The girls went back to the photos only to be interrupted by the ringing of what Rory instantly recognized as Logan's cell phone. She saw him glance at the caller ID and then answer it.

"Huntzberger," the whole newsroom heard him because they had fallen silent. Rory noticed Logan seemed oblivious that everyone was listening and rolled her eyes: He still didn't understand how much people paid attention to his actions.

She overheard him say, "Seriously Steph, that's why you called?"

At the mention of a girl's name, Rory could almost see everyone's interest peak.

"I should be done around 6, you can come by then….I'm not sure when she'll get home…..yeah, love you too….bye."

Rory saw how everyone reacted to hearing him say love; she doubted anyone else caught his sarcasm. Logan made his way back to Mike to talk shortly before moving on to the entertainment staff. As soon as he left, the gossip started.

"Do you think that was his fiancé?"

"Maybe, or a mistress?"

"I heard it was arranged. He needed a wife. You know…to plan parties and give him heirs."

"Well, I heard she's already pregnant, and they're trying to avoid a scandal."

"If either of those are the case, I'm sure he'll have women on the side, maybe this Steph is one of them. He seemed more than happy to talk to her."

Rory and Bri both walked away from the gossip queens, but they could still hear them. Rory thought Bri was curious, but when she spoke, Rory was surprised at her statement, "I feel bad for her."

"For who?" not really following her meaning at all, and she was even use to Lorelai.

"His fiancé," Bri responded like it should have been perfectly clear.

"Maybe it was her on the phone," Rory offered.

"No, I think her name is Lorelai."

"How do you know?" Rory asked hoping she hadn't completely misread her new friend.

"When I was in the dark room earlier, I heard someone mention he was here. Well, I was nervous about possibly having to meet him so when I came back, I looked him up. I didn't find much, a few articles from college, a piece about him taking over the New York papers and an engagement announcement. I didn't have time to read them, but I saw the girl's name in the headline." Bri said this all very quickly and with slight embarrassment.

"So why do you feel bad for her?"

"Maybe he isn't cheating on her, who knows who was on the phone, it could have been his sister or cousin. I will admit is sounded suspicious, and if he is cheating on her, I feel bad because she probably doesn't know. If he isn't, well, what girl would want everyone thinking he was. That would probably be just as bad, even if she knows the truth."

Rory just nodded, she definitely could relate to that. Then Bri spoke again, "What do you think?"

Rory's mind went into overdrive trying to decide how to answer, "I've known Logan since my sophomore year at Yale, and as much as I hated him when we met I also learned he's not always the person everyone else assumes he is."

"Did you date in college?" Bri asked randomly.

"Why would you ask that?" Rory said, trying to sound taken aback by the suggestion.

"Well with what you just said, it seems like you at least talked to him a few times, and beyond the normal co-worker topics, and there was this weird vibe between you two when he was talking to us earlier. I couldn't figure out what it was."

"We collaborated on an article early on at Yale, and in doing so, I saw him in a different light," Rory said thinking of the LDB event. This statement had effectively ended Bri's questions, and they both went back to work.

In her mind, Rory felt guilty for lying, no avoiding the truth, with Bri. She wanted to consider her a friend, a potentially very good friend, but that's hard when she remembered Bri didn't even know her real name.

At her own desk, Bri was looking at Rory somewhat confused and wondered what she was hiding, but she also saw the look on her face and knew that now was not the time to dig for answers. She wanted to make new friends in New York and was hoping Ella would be one, but she also thought she was holding onto some secret. Bri realized she couldn't be too mad at her, she was guilty of the same, but hoped they would trust each other enough eventually.

--

Rory left the office a little after 6 and had never been happier to do so. Listening to her co-workers gossip about Logan was far beyond annoying. She was pleased, however, that Bri hadn't joined in with them, but that also made her feel even worse for their current situation.

When she entered the living room she heard Logan say, "The second mouse gets the cheese Ace?"

She smiled innocently and said, "What?"

"Do you know how hard it was to not respond to that? I think I bit my tongue so hard it bled."

"Well you deserved it for what you said on the phone Mr. 'love you too.'"

Logan's face dropped, he had forgotten everyone was right there. "How bad was it?"

"Everyone in the office thinks you're cheating on your fiancé, except Ella and possibly Bri."

"I knew I didn't fire her for a reason," he said trying to break the tension he was feeling.

Ignoring his comment she continues, "She does however feel incredibly bad for her."

"And why is that?"

"In her words, either because you are cheating or because everyone thinks you are."

"Well then I should make it up to my fiancé later tonight," he said playfully.

"I'm interested to see what you have in mind. So why did Steph call you anyways?"

"She bought a new outfit for some event she has to go to with Colin and was having a shoe crisis."

"And I repeat, why did Steph call you…"

"You apparently have 'the perfect pair to match,' but she said you banned her from borrowing your stuff because she never returns it."

"So you told her no, right?" Rory asked hopefully.

Logan grinned, "I told her yes, which is what made her start professing her love for me. I of course returned the affection, unintentionally causing the gossip mills to spin out of control."

"Men…which brings me to Mike, maybe you can explain why he threatened to fire us?"

"My best guess is that he found out we knew each other from Yale and didn't like that you had a better connection than him."

"If he only knew," Rory said laughing.

"I promise he will not be happy when that information gets out, he sucks up more than Doyle! It was so annoying. He spent the first 5 minutes in his office apologizing about your behavior and just kissing my ass."

"You don't like when people kiss you ass?" she asked, looking like an angel.

Catching her meaning he whispered, "Only when it's you," finally getting over to her for a kiss.

"Do you know how hard it was not doing that today?" he asked.

"Well you gave an excellent performance. If it was caught on film, I'm sending it in for Emmy consideration tomorrow."

"You weren't so bad yourself, _Ella_."

"That was definitely the weirdest part, or even worse Miss Danes. It is weird enough when you use Rory instead of Ace, today was almost like the twilight zone."

"I almost slipped and called you Ace." She laughed, while he continued, "But because of our spectacular acting today, we deserve a prize."

"Oh what?" she asked excitedly.

He went to the fridge and pulled out a whole pie. Seeing it Rory walked over, grabbed two forks and they headed to the couch for their appetizer.


	10. Antonio Can Go All Night

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

_A/N: Sorry for the wait, I was sick (trust me not in the right mind to write a chapter…it was better this way) and then I was caught up in basketball. Some of you will love me for this and some will hate me, but I'm saying it! Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeetroit Basketball!_

_Hope you enjoy!_

--

When the alarm went off, Rory groaned, not wanting to get out of bed. Logan knew she was hard to wake up every morning, but today would be an even bigger battle. Realizing this, but also knowing it was necessary, he got up and made coffee. When it was finished, he brought 2 cups to their room.

When Rory smelled the coffee, she began to stir. She was reaching for the cup when it dawned on her what today was. She withdrew her hand and said, "No," before rolling over.

"Rory, please get up," Logan tried to coax.

"I don't fell well, I need bed rest," she said burying her head under the covers.

Logan rolled his eyes, "You're fine. We need to go before we don't have a vote left for our wedding."

At that thought, she relented, drank her coffee, and then stepped into the shower. An hour later, they were leaving for Emily's and Richard's.

--

They pulled into the driveway and noticed they were the last to arrive. Rory reached over to Logan's pocket, pulled out what he thought was his hidden flask, and took a sip.

He was shocked when Rory broke his trance, "Don't look at me like that. It was for survival."

They rang the door bell, were let in, and proceeded to the sitting room to find Richard, Emily, Mitchum, Shira, and Lorelai waiting for them. After the greetings were over, Emily started the questioning, "So today we were hoping to cover the main items, so to start: when is the wedding?"

Before they could answer Shira was already giving her thoughts, "How about next spring? Spring weddings are always so beautiful, especially at the Vineyard or the Tea Gardens."

"Oh, yes perfect!" Emily gushed, "I heard Honor's wedding was just lovely."

Rory looked wide-eyed at Logan, who took her hand and said, "We were thinking this December."

"There could be snow, dreadful for the guests," Shira pointed out, to dismiss the idea.

"But Rory loves the snow," Logan defended, then realized he needed something else, "and all white scenery would look nice."

"In the spring all the flowers are in bloom," countered Shira, a winter wedding was just not acceptable.

"It could rain in the spring, how would that be?" Logan tried.

"If you insist on December then the Vineyard is out; however, we could use the Rose room for the reception," Emily said.

"I hadn't asked yet, but I wanted it to be at the Dragonfly," Rory said looking at her mother.

Lorelai smiled, "Of course it is available."

"But that is 45 minutes away from Hartford, such a long drive for the guests," argued Emily.

"Who do we know in Hartford, besides family?" asked Rory.

"The women from the DAR, friends of Mitchum and Richard," pointed out Shira.

"By _friends_ I assume you mean business associates? Mom, our wedding is not another society party."

"But it is," Shira said sounding confused at her son's suggestion.

"No, you don't have final say on this," Logan said forcefully.

Deciding to change the subject, Shira went onto food, "We need to find a caterer."

"Sookie can make the food, she's already started planning the menu," offered Lorelai.

"I've never heard of her, I doubt the food is what we are looking for," Shira said, disgusted by the idea.

"Actually Shira, I've used her before, the food is quite excellent," Emily offered, having honestly been impressed with her food last time.

"If you're sure Emily," Shira asked in her society voice.

"And I am. Now Rory what colors do you want?"

"I was thinking navy blue and silver," she offered happy when neither her grandmother nor Shira could find something wrong with her choice.

"Ladies, if you would excuse us, I have a few business matters to discuss with Logan," Mitchum stated.

"Of course, besides this is girl talk," smiled Emily.

"Richard may we use your study briefly?" he asked politely.

"Of course," Richard answered.

Logan followed his father, happy to miss _The Great Wedding War: Part 1_, but feeling guilty for leaving Rory with his mother.

After they closed the door, both men took a seat.

"So Dad, what did you need?" Logan inquired.

"I wanted to talk to you about Rory."

"What about her," he asked suspiciously.

"About her journalism skills," Mitchum declared in an obvious tone.

"What about them? She's good!" Logan said getting defensive.

"I know," he stated simply.

"Excuse me?"

"I've read her pieces theses past few weeks and I admit they were good, excellent in fact."

"I'm well aware. I am overseeing _The Observer_, so I do read the paper."

"Yes well, I was also talking to Charles Holmes over lunch. Mostly casual conversation, but we got on the topic of up and coming reporters. I was telling him there are a few at various papers I am keeping an eye on. He asked if my future daughter-in-law was one of them. I said she was. He then mentioned that Rory's editor has only given her the highest reviews on her performance reports. He even mentioned her outstanding work in a meeting they had not too long ago."

"Good to hear, but I'm not surprised," Logan replied.

"Well I was impressed by her writing and for her to get that type of review from her superiors so quickly…neither is easily achieved."

"And I'm sure this is all something she would love to hear," Logan suggested.

"It's not my place to tell her Logan. She doesn't want special treatment; I think this information may qualify."

Remembering something that had previously been long forgotten, Logan asked, "Dad, were you serious about getting to know her? You know…making a real effort and all?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I agree that what her editor said was between the two of you. But you still read her articles and liked them," Logan started not sure how to explain the rest.

Mitchum jumped in before he could continue, "What's your point?"

"It's been her dream, like forever, to be a reporter"

"And she's well on her way."

Ignoring the comment, Logan kept explaining, "Now she's marrying me, which means she's marrying a family that runs the journalism world."

"Logan…" Mitchum began, not sure where this was going.

"And while she holds her own at the paper, and keeps her cool on the surface, I know she feels like her talent will be considered second rate in this family."

"Why would she think that? Did you listen to anything I just said?"

"Yes, but do you remember telling her she didn't have what it takes to make it?" Logan said bluntly.

"That was 2 years ago."

"But it was you!" trying to make his point.

"So?"

"Dad, you and I both know our family is the icon in the industry and you are the figure head of it. You telling her that would be like someone hoping to play in the NBA, and Michael Jordon saying they will never make it."

"You're seriously telling me she still thinks about what I said?"

"She's regained her confidence, actually she's more confident than before, and is doing well. But, she still thinks it's not good enough for you. On some level, she wants your approval both personally and professionally, a mix of you being you and you being her future father-in-law."

"And professionally, she has it"

"She doesn't know that unless you say something!"

They fell into a silence. Logan was wondering when he started to nearly yell at his father, but was satisfied when he realized his father didn't just dismiss him. He had actually listened to what he was saying and considering it, that was very different from a year ago. Their private thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock followed by Richard entering.

"Am I interrupting?"

"We finished up a few minutes ago. We were about to come back out," Mitchum answered automatically.

Richard shook his head, "You don't want that. It is much safer here."

--

After Rory mentioned the colors, she started talking about the bridesmaids dresses.

"Do you know how many people you and Logan have standing up?" Emily inquired.

"Lane is going to be my matron of honor, and I was planning on Paris, Steph, and Honor as my bridesmaids."

"What about groomsmen?" Shira pushed.

"Well Finn and Colin, not sure who will be the best man…" Rory said, she and Logan hadn't gotten too much into the details, knowing these women wouldn't overlook a thing.

"Rory you must have the same number, an uneven amount is just not proper," Shira fussed.

"Talk to Logan," Rory responded, becoming annoyed.

"You two should have this planned, don't you talk? Communication is important for a marriage," Emily chided.

"Grandma, Logan and I have excellent communication. This just hadn't come up yet," Rory tried to explain.

"But you don't know who the best man or who the other groomsmen will be. This is one of the most important details about the wedding, how could it have not come up," Emily continued to scold her.

"Really? And I thought that the most important things would be the vows, the rings, the love…those things."

"Rory, now is no time for your jokes," Emily said harshly.

"Please excuse me for a moment," Rory said, standing up, leaving the room, and bursting into the study. She walked over to Logan, grabbed his flask, took about a double shot, and sat on his lap.

Logan smirked at her and asked, "Going well I see?"

"Oh no you don't! This," she said pointing at the flask, "is all your fault."

"How?"

"Because I named 4 people I want to stand up with me and then could only name 2 for you," she said as if this explained it all.

"So?"

"Logan don't you know you need the same number for each and since I don't know we obviously don't communicate well, and on this, the most important part of the wedding," she said imitating Emily.

"The most important part isn't the marriage? The vows or something?" Logan asked confused.

"Thank you! That's what I said, but really, you need 2 more groomsmen or you can go face the music."

"Who do you have?"

"Lane, Paris, Steph, and Honor"

"Okay so I'll have Finn, Colin, Josh and Seth

"Sounds good, now who is your best man?" she asked, not sure if even Logan knew the answer.

"Finn," he said easily. She looked at him wanting an explanation, "He won the coin toss."

"And you will do this again when he and Colin get married?"

"No," he said like she was a child, "Since I was first, we flipped. Finn won which now means that Finn's best man will be Colin and Colin's will be me."

"Very circular of you."

"Well, it works for us. Now anything else you need?"

By this point, both had forgotten about their onlookers so Rory went into a mini-rant.

"If I hire a hit man to take out your mother and my grandmother will you be my alibi," she asked with a small pout.

The look on her face made Logan laugh, "That bad?"

"I don't think out marriage actually matters. They just want to throw the perfect society wedding. In fact, you could probably marry an inanimate object."

"Don't be ridiculous…" he began, but she jumped in.

"Logan you don't understand," she tried.

He ignored her statement and continued, "If anyone married an inanimate object it would be you. Hey, you can marry Antonio!"

Rory seemed to entertain the suggestion before answering, "He will keep me satisified for life and doesn't complain if I want him to go all night."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No, it's a fact."

"I'll have to prove you wrong," he sighed, leaning up for a not-so-chaste kiss. When Logan let out a groan, Mitchum decided to stop them before a very red-faced Richard had a heart attack.

"Who's Antonio?" He asked, wondering if it was an ex-boyfriend, but confused why Logan would bring him up.

Rory jumped at the voice, then remembering where she was blushed deeply and turned into Logan's chest. This left Logan to answer his father, "Antonio is our coffeemaker."

Mitchum had no clue how to respond to that and decided to take his son's insight from earlier, "Rory, I've read your articles so far and I must say they are all quite impressive."

"Thank you sir," she said while achieving an even deeper blush.

Logan appreciated what his father had said, but also knew Rory was extremely embarrassed. Trying to get her out of the situation he asked, "Hey Ace, where did you tell them you were going?"

"Who Hitler and Mussolini?" she asked automatically. Mitchum and Richard tried to not laugh, but failed miserably.

"Interesting analogy…" Logan mused, not sure what to make of the older men's laughter.

"Well, they are trying to make me conform to their ways," she rationalized.

"Fine, where did you tell the Axis leaders you were going?" He asked playing along.

"I just excused myself," Rory said simply.

"And they let you?" asked Mitchum, this didn't fit with what he knew of his wife.

"I didn't give them a chance to stop me."

"Hey Roosevelt, do you think it wise to leave Churchill alone with them for this long?"

"Oh shit mom!" Rory said, while jumping up.

Logan grabbed her quickly to him and said, "Tonight I'll be making my full point on your earlier accusation," and kissed her quickly, yet deeply.

Wanting to get the last word she said, "Watch yourself Huntzberger or I'll remind Finn of some things I'm sure he's forgotten. That way he can include them in his Best Man speech." With that she left and shut the door.

Mitchum and Richard could hear Logan start swearing and say something about a _'wretched woman.'_

Picking up on the comment Mitchum asked, "Then, why are you marrying her?"

"What?" Logan asked after being pulled from his thoughts.

"If she bothers you that much, why are you marrying her?"

Logan laughed, "Oh she drives me up the wall, but make no mistake, I love her."

"One more question," Mitchum pressed, now wanting to understand Rory better, "What's going on out there that is so bad World War II references are needed?"

"She doesn't like the wedding Emily and Mom are trying to force on her."

"Why not? No expense will be spared by those two. This would be any girls dream wedding."

Logan shook his head, "The wedding Rory wants, the one she's always pictured herself having, would probably cost less than Honor's dress."

"But what's wrong with making it better?"

"She didn't dream it that way because it was cheaper, it just fits her personality. Simple, maybe, but tasteful and it would be a true celebration of the marriage in a room of family and close friends. Not an attempt to redefine society standards and out do the last wedding held."

"Does she know who she's up against?" Mitchum asked.

"Yep."

--

Rory re-entered the sitting room to find Emily and Shira bent over a wedding book while Lorelai stared into space.

"Finn is Logan's best man. Colin, Josh, and Seth will be the groomsmen," she said announcing her presence.

"Perfect," said Emily, "Now what about your dress?"

"There are some stores in New York where I was going to look, but I know I want it to be a simple strapless dress, tasteful and elegant…minimal frill, a plain train, simple veil…"

"That is not acceptable," Shira began, "This dress should represent your status in society. We are an important family; the dress needs to show that."

"What's wrong with a simple dress?" Lorelai asked, trying to stand up for Rory.

"Simple is common," Emily explained, "It needs exquisite detailing, maybe Chantilly lace?"

Seeing the hesitation on Rory face, Shira tried another approach, "Think of your daughter."

"What daughter?" Rory questioned, confused.

"One day, your daughter will be getting married. She will have been raised a Huntzberger, and will want a dress that shows it," Shira supplied.

Rory was sure that would not be the case, but left that out of her argument, "If that's what she wants, I'm sure we will buy it for her."

"Rory, she will be wearing your dress," Emily said.

"Why?" Rory was still not following.

"It's tradition; therefore, it is important to buy a dress that suits you as well as future generations," Shira explained, hoping this will change Rory's mind about the dress.

"No! That is just what women who want some ridiculously expensive dress or who don't like someone's choice in fashion say. They justify the cost or design by saying 'one day my daughter will wear it.' But that's just some stupid excuse, did either of you wear your mother's dress? And wasn't Honor's dress new?" She was met with silence.

Still not satisfied, Emily tried a final approach, "Rory, you are a Gilmore and a Hayden you are expected to dress accordingly."

Rory looked to her mom and rolled her eyes. Seeing the dread in them, Lorelai decided to speak up, "Mom, don't you think that you should wait to see the dress before you decide anything? I'm sure it will be elegant, Vera Wang has some beautiful dresses and they are simple."

"Lorelai, you just don't understand! You left this life, and now you are trying to keep Rory from having any part of it."

"This is her decision. We haven't talked about it, but she knows I support her choice."

"Oh stop! You've been planting ideas in her head since she could talk."

Rory noticed her mom was becoming more worked up and wanted to keep the fighting minimal. She decided a breather was necessary, "Mom can I talk to you for a minute?"

Lorelai nodded. Both girls left the room and dropped the façade.

"Ahhhh," Lorelai let out, once they were up stairs in the bathroom.

Trying to lighten the mood, Rory whispered, "Logan said if we hire a hit man, he'll be our alibi," in a conspicuous voice.

This got her mom to laugh, "I knew I liked him for a reason. Really hun, what are we going to do? I can't go back down there."

Rory glanced at the window and got an idea, "What shoes are you wearing?"

"Now is not the time, we need a plan."

Ignoring her, Rory pushed, "Can you climb out your old window in them?"

Lorelai grinned, "You are my mini-me! Of course I can do it," she said sounding offended at the implication against her.

They had just made their way back to her childhood room when Emily came upstairs.

"What is taking so long? How could you leave me alone with that woman?" Emily complained.

"What are you talking about Grandma? You and Shira get along so well," Rory said in false sweetness.

"We were, then after you left she started going on and on about you not being the proper wife for Logan. Not understanding society and driving the family name into the ground because you aren't a model member of the DAR." Then, under her breath, Emily added, "Like she would know…that gold digger."

Lorelai started to laugh.

"What is so funny Lorelai, do you want her to try and force Rory to be a trophy wife? We want more for her."

"Yes mom, so do I. Remember me, I raised her," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Why are you laughing then?"

"Because you are offended by what she is saying."

"Wouldn't you be?"

"Yes and I am, but those are the same things you've yelled at me for my whole life: 'Lorelai that dress isn't appropriate, what will my friends say?' or 'Lorelai it isn't proper for a women to be unwed.' I mean mom, why do you think we always got upset? You were constantly attacking our life because it wasn't how you would have lived, but we aren't you, just like Rory isn't Shira. I just wish you could have seen it before, so I guess I find it amusing that after all this time you finally do."

"It's different when I say it to you," Emily said.

"How?" Lorelai challenged.

"I just want what's best for you," she said honestly.

"Mom, I know that. It's the only reason I ever come back, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt to hear. You basically said you hated my whole life."

"I didn't mean it, I was just disappointed, I missed so much of it. I don't want to miss anymore. We can discuss this later, now come back down with me," Emily commanded.

"I can't believe I'm about to share this with you," Lorelai muttered, "Mom, we're not going back down."

"Lorelai don't be so dramatic, you can't stay up here forever."

"We're not, we are sneaking out," Rory said proudly.

"We're on the second floor, how are you going to manage that?"

"I have my ways," Lorelai said with a grin.

"You're going to make me face her alone? Where am I supposed to say you went?"

"Now, for some unknown reason, I am taking pity on you. You can come with us," Lorelai said, almost not believing her own words.

"I am not jumping out a window," Emily proclaimed.

Thinking about their escape Rory said, "Mom, Grandma can't go out the way we were planning."

"Crap!" Lorelai paused to think, "Ah ha! Follow me."

"Lorelai, we can't just leave. It's rude, she is still my guest," Emily said.

Lorelai rolled her eyes at her mother's words, always the perfect socialite. "Mom you can do what you want, but we are leaving. So what's it going to be: come with us or go back to Mussolini?"

"Mussolini?" a confused Emily asked.

"Never mind," Lorelai said, waving her hands.

"Fine, I'm coming."

Lorelai led her mother and daughter down the hallway, up into the attic, across the house, then down a hidden back stairwell that let out into the backyard.

"I never knew these stairs existed," commented Emily.

"I know," Lorelai replied with an evil grin.

"Is this how you always snuck out?" she asked, now putting two and two together.

"One of my ways, and I will share no more secrets."

They went to Lorelai's car and headed away from the house. They had been driving for about 5 minutes when Rory shouted, "Logan!" and pulled out her phone.

--

The 3 men were enjoying a drink and a friendly conversation when Logan's phone rang. Looking down he was surprised to see _Ace_ on the display.

Confused, he answered, "Ace…why are you calling from me from another room?...What do you mean you left?...Emily too!..." He laughed and said, "I'll tell them….Yep meet you there soon….bye."

"Was that Rory?" asked a more than curious Richard.

"Yes. She, Lorelai, and Emily snuck out of the house through the attic and are now at a coffee shop in downtown Hartford."

"Why did they do this?" Mitchum inquired.

"I didn't quite understand it all, but Rory did compare mom to Mussolini again and then the DAR became the Axis nations in her rant."

"What did Shira do?" Mitchum asked expectantly.

"The same as always: 'Rory's not good enough,' 'the dress isn't expensive enough,' 'she won't be a trophy wife,' and so on."

"So they left? Emily too!" Richard wasn't surprised to hear Rory and Lorelai fled, but it had to be bad for Emily to go with them.

"I'm shocked too. I don't have all the details there, but apparently mom crossed a line with her. I have to pick Rory up and take her home" Logan said while standing.

"What about Shira, does she know they left?" Richard asked not wanting to have to explain.

"I'll go tell her I have an office emergency and pull her out before she realizes too much," Mitchum sighed.

"Thank you dad," Logan said truthfully.

"No problem, I married her. I know how she can get," he stated with a small smile.

Mitchum left, followed by Logan and Richard, and then went their separate ways.

--

Logan picked up Rory, and she told the full story during the drive home. When they got there, a still shocked Logan exclaimed, "I can't believe Emily turned!"

"I know, I never thought I'd see the day," Rory said.

Finally, they both sat down on the couch and put their feet up.

"Logan, what are we going to do?"

"About what?"

"The wedding, I mean I want it to be our wedding."

"Me too."

"But I can't do it all myself and I can't really trust Grandma or Shira to do it the way I want."

"Well what else needs to be decided?"

"Where the ceremony is going to be."

"I thought it was going to be at the Dragonfly?"

"No that is for the reception, I'm talking about the actually wedding"

"How about a church," he suggested in an obvious tone.

"Logan, the only time I've been to church is for a few weddings and funerals and Sookie's kids' baptism."

"Okay, well I grew up Catholic."

"Aren't those weddings really long?" she looked horrified.

"We don't have to have a Catholic wedding; I'm just saying I went to church. Why don't we look in Hartford, near Stars Hallow, and in between for a church to use."

"Okay, we have the reception location, food, colors, our wedding party…we need clothes."

"Are you sure?"

"I need to find my dress and bridesmaid dresses. You need to pick out tuxes for you and your groomsmen."

"Well I can't help you with the dress, so take Steph and while you're out you can look at bridesmaid dresses too. What color are those going to be?"

"Navy blue, with silver shoes and accessories. If there is any decoration on the dress, I want it to be the same blue or silver."

"Okay, once you pick the dresses out we can take a sample with us, go to a Tux shop and make sure the boys will match. I can pick mine out then too."

"You know way too much about fashion," Rory said with an eye roll, "any other major things for the ceremony? I mean flowers and music and those choices will come later"

"Vows and rings."

"What about them?"

"Well we need wedding bands; although, I already have yours. I bought it to match your engagement ring as a set, but you need to get mine, which means I need to find out my ring size."

"Do you want to help pick out your ring or do you want me to get one for you?"

"Well, I got yours so you should get mine."

"You're good at this," she teased.

"Honor, and that's all I'm saying. Do we want traditional vows or to write our own?"

"What do you want? I've been picking a lot of things."

"I'm kind of undecided."

"Logan…." She whined, thinking he was avoiding having to answer.

"I'm serious. On one hand, I like the idea of using the same vows as millions of couples before us. There is something powerful about that."

"I can see that, and your own vows?"

"It makes it more personal. Something uniquely us."

"So why not do both?"

"You can't have 2 sets of vows"

"No, but I'm sure we can talk to who ever we find to perform the ceremony and say we each want to say a few words and then after that we can go through the traditional vows."

"I like that," he said kissing her. "Hey Ace, have I ever complained when you want me to go all night?"

Rory blushed and deepened the kiss. The kiss became increasingly more passionate and then Logan started moving down her neck kissing and nipping his way to her collarbone. Slowly, he moved his hands under her shirt, before removing it completely. Rory followed suit as he moved his focus down her body. Soon all their clothing was in a pile and Logan pulled Rory up to move to the bedroom.

They reached the bed, Logan happily exploring every inch of her body. Finally, he reached her center and ran his tongue along the slit and up to her nub. Gently he massaged it with his tongue and let his fingers run over her opening. When he could tell she was getting closer, he finally slid two fingers into her, increasing her stimulation. He could hear her breath quickening and sped up his pace. As she went over the edge, she let out a loud moan, and her entire body shook.

He let her body calm down before moving back up to kiss her again. As the kiss continued, Rory could feel his arousal against her stomach and reached for a condom to quickly roll on him. After a few strokes with her hand, he moved to enter her. She immediately wrapped her legs around his body, and he lifted her hips to change the angle. Soon, they were both lost in each other and what seemed like all too soon, she was clamping down on him, his name falling off her lips. He thrust a few more deep strokes and soon joined her in her bliss.

Logan eventually rolled off and cleaned himself off before lying back down next to Rory. She leaned over and kissed his neck a said, "Baby, I hate to disappoint you, but that wasn't all night."

He pulled her into another kiss and started to go to work again, not wanting her to be right.

"Ace, who said I was done?"

--

_A/N: Please read and review, I love comments :-)_


	11. Lorelai IV's Birthday

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

--

Late the following Wednesday, Logan received a phone call from his father. A smaller paper they owned outside of Denver was having an emergency, and Mitchum needed Logan to fly out tonight. After nearly an entire week with non-stop rain, a small leak in the roof got much worse, a section crashed through, and damaged a large portion of the top floor. Unfortunately, that portion was home to 50 of the offices and held most of the computers, research, photographs, and many other essential components for producing the paper, not to mention work space. This meant that not only the repairs, but also just publishing the paper, were a struggle and top priority.

Logan was now packing as Rory watched from the bed. She hadn't said much since the call. Logan was sick on the silence and spoke, "Ace, don't be mad. This was a freak accident, nothing I could do."

"I know that Logan," she said harshly.

"The paper needs to get out."

"I'm also aware."

"So what's wrong?" he questioned knowing that something was bothering her.

"Nothing," she answered, becoming irritated.

"Please talk to me," he pushed, but used a soft voice.

"Is this what it will be like?"

"I need more nouns."

"When we're married, and you take over for your dad. Will this be what it's like? You have papers all over the country, things can go wrong all the time, so will you constantly away on business?"

"Ace…" he started, but she was just warming up her rant.

"And what about the kids? I want us to raise them together, not me raising them and you occasionally partaking when you are in town."

"Breathe…"

"First, you miss the baseball games, then a school play and then…"

"Ace!" he finally shouted, needing to make her stop.

"What?" she snipped, being pulled from her thoughts. It wasn't that he had never gone on a business trip. He had been in London for 4 months and then had to travel with his father as he finished out his year. It was just now, he was more than her boyfriend. Sure when they were dating she had thought they would get married one day, but since the engagement it was becoming much more of a reality. And with that, she found her mind now worrying about how what they do and how they live, would affect their future family…so she freaked.

"You need to slow down," he said, sitting down next to her.

"I just don't want to wake up one day and realize my husband is gone more than he is home," she confessed, on the verge of tears.

He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her temple. Rubbing her back to calm her, he asked, "Where is this coming from?"

"I guess it's always been there in a way, but since the engagement, I've been thinking about our future more; part of that future being your job. I need you around Logan, I understand travel comes with the job, and just don't want it to become a priority."

"Priority over what?" he asked, honestly not seeing her fear.

"Me, our family…"

He was shocked she even thought that and pulled her onto his lap, and whispered soothingly, "Not gonna happen."

"You don't know that. What about when your dad retires, you'll be head of the company?"

"Okay, first I am aware of what my future job is. Second, I don't know when my dad will step down, but even when he does he won't stop completely. Like you said when we met, he's a machine. He loves his work; he loves to travel that's why he does it so much. So I'm sure he'll still be minimally involved with the company for a few years after I take over. Yes, some trips, like this one, are necessary, but others, he just preferred to go on in person."

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

He noticed her body had relaxed, but continued to reassure her, "Ace, you and our family will always be most important."

She nodded, feeling much better, but still needed to ask her next question. "Do you have any idea how much you would need to travel?"

"Nothing is set in stone, but depending on the year, probably will average out to about 2 days a month. With technology, a lot more can be done from my home office over the internet and who knows what else they will invent," he said, hoping she wouldn't be upset by his answer.

"What if it's Loerlai's birthday?" she asked, lifting her head off his chest and finally looking at him.

"Your mom?" he asked, he like Lorelai well enough, but this was a weird question.

"No, Lorelai IV. If we have a daughter I want to keep the name going," she said, giving him a smile.

"Of course," he started playfully, but then turned serious, "Well, if it is Lorelai IV's birthday, then I will call one of my trusted staff members and ask them to go. Just like my dad called me."

"Promise?" she asked with eyes he didn't think he would ever or could ever refuse.

"Yes Ace, I promise," he vowed, as much to himself, not wanting be the type of father Mitchum was, as to her.

"Okay," she said happily, sitting up to kiss him.

"Are we good now? I don't want to leave if you're upset," he questioned, looking at her and trying to read her face.

"I'm fine, just a little freak out, but all better," she promised with a smile.

"Good, so what will you do while I'm gone?"

"I haven't had much time with Steph lately, so I was thinking a girl's night. Then on Saturday, some dress shopping for the wedding."

"Don't hurt my black card," he said, taking it out of his wallet.

She grinned, "It's indestructible!"

"Just don't wear the magnetic strip out," he responded.

"Fine," she relented and kissed him firmly on the lips.

"What was that for?" he asked, but not complaining.

"I need to make it last until Saturday night."

"In that case…" he said, kissing her again, even deeper.

A short while later, Logan had finished packing and was going to meet Frank outside for the ride to the family jet.

"Bye Ace, and if you are worried about something like that again, please tell me," he said honestly.

"I can do that," she promised with a small smile, "Bye Logan."

He kissed her one final time, "I love you."

"I love too," she responded and watched him leave.

--

Logan landed at 2:00 a.m. MST, was met by a driver, and taken to his hotel where he quickly fell asleep. His alarm went off at 7:30 the next morning because he had a meeting first thing with the paper's manager.

Logan arrived right on time at the paper. When he entered, he noticed barely controlled chaos. His father was not exaggerating when he said they needed help ASAP. He walked up to a crowded area that he assumed was normally the front desk and asked, "Can anyone tell me where the paper's manager is?"

They looked at him as if he were insane, 'Well that is new,' he thought.

Finally someone spoke, "I'm not sure what you're selling, but if you can't tell we're in a crisis."

Logan laughed, "I know, which is why I'm here, Logan Huntzberger."

"Mr. Huntzberger, please accept my apology, that was unprofessional. Mr. Tyler is over there," the man said pointing to the back left corner of the room.

Logan made his way back to the older man, introduced himself, and jumped into the situation at hand.

"What is upstairs?" Logan asked, trying to assess the situation.

"Offices and desks for entertainment, business, photography and layout."

"What's down here?"

"Offices for me and the senior editors as well as local and national news, sports, and classifieds."

"And can we access upstairs?"

"We are allowed to send a few people to retrieve materials with the building inspector, but not to work. Heath code violations."

"Is all information on the servers?"

"It should be."

Logan nodded in understanding, "Can we gather together the staff that works upstairs?"

"Give me a few moments."

A short while later, Logan had everyone who worked upstairs go in shifts to get their notes, files, photographs and other necessities. A secretary had also come back from purchasing numerous flash drives. Logan then gathered the whole staff and began giving instructions.

"I have a pile of numbered flash drives. All of the writers who are submitting text only should come and get one. After this meeting, transfer any data you need from the server onto it. Does anyone not own a personal computer?" One person in the back raised their hand, "Okay, see me when the meeting breaks. The rest of you can either send your article in over email or return it on the flash drive. Either way, we need it by the usual deadline. Please use your last name as the filename; it will make it easier when putting together the paper. Photography, layout, classifieds, and editing will be done here using these computers. Any questions?"

"Are there enough computers here for that?"

"It will be tight, so we need to share and work efficiently. But, we need to make this work, only these computers have the software we use."

Everyone groaned, Logan continued, "Exactly, anything else?"

"How long will we be doing this?"

"Hopefully only a few days. By the weekend, we should be able to use at least a portion of the floor, and by the end of next week, the whole thing. It will be a week or so to completely fix the roof, lets just all hope the rain holds off until they can get a temporary fix."

The meeting broke and the writers started collecting files while Logan talked with the manager and the editor before going to get coffee.

When he entered the break room, he was approached by the reporter from earlier.

"Mr. Huntzberger?"

"Yes," he greeted looking for her name.

"Jamie," the women who he would guess was in he early 40's replied.

"How can I help you Jamie?"

"I was the one from earlier, who didn't have a computer. You said to find you after the meeting," she said, trying to remind the man in front of her.

"I remember, well we're short on computers as it is. I'll talk to some people and we'll figure something out for after lunch. Until then, either help around where you can or start outlining your article on paper."

"Thank you, normally I have one. It just crashed a few days ago and I haven't had a chance to fix it or get a replacement."

"Having your own computer isn't part of the job description, I just know most people would have one and used it as a quick fix in our crisis."

Jamie gave an appreciative smile and left the room.

--

Logan made a quick stop by his hotel room and then stopped by a deli he passed to grab some lunch before returning to the paper. When he re-entered the building, he found Jamie and pulled out his laptop and set it up in a free office.

As it was booting up Jamie spoke, "Who's computer is it?"

"It's mine actually. Some of the editors had them, but my hotel was closer and I had to stop by it to pick up papers anyway."

"Oh…." she said looking hesitantly at the computer, "If you don't mind, can you stay until I find all the programs I need. I wouldn't feel right searching through your computer."

"I can do that," he answered. When windows finally opened what he saw shocked him. "Crap!"

"What's wrong?" Jamie asked, noticing the background was a picture of what appeared to be her boss on a couch with a brunette on top of him, both asleep.

"This isn't my computer."

"Then who's is it?" Forgive my bluntness, but isn't that you?" she asked pointing to the screen.

"Yes, but it being there means this is Rory's, not mine."

"Who's Rory?" she inquired out of curiosity.

"My fiancé…uhhh, I need to call her before you start."

"If she doesn't want me using her laptop I understand. I'm sure I could find another solution."

"Oh no, that'll be fine, I'm guessing she'll want me to email her some files and it would be easier to do it now."

He picked up his cell phone, tried to dial, saw he had no signal and redialed using the office phone.

After 3 rings, he heard her voice, "Hello."

"Hey Ace."

"Logan? Where are you calling me from?"

"An office phone, I don't have a signal."

"So what's up?"

"I accidentally grabbed your computer on my way out the door."

"Logan!"

"I know, I know. Anyway we're having a computer shortage, and I was going to let one of the journalists use mine."

"They can still use it, no big deal."

"Thank you, nice picture by the way," he teased.

"Thank Steph," she said grinning as she remembered the picture.

"I will, but not why I'm calling."

"Okay…" she said wondering what he wanted.

"Just wondering if you needed any of the files for work."

"No, I keep those on the computer here…." She said and paused before exclaiming, "Wait! Actually, yes I have a wedding list I need."

"For what? I thought your next big wedding planning session wasn't for a few weeks," he asked confused.

"It is, but I was talking to Steph and we decided we would look at some ideas Friday night."

"Do I get a say in any of the plans?"

"Fine, do you think the wedding party should have calla lilies or gardenias?"

"What's a calla lily?" He wondered, and he heard Jamie start laughing.

"It's a flower Logan, see this is why I need Steph," she grumbled.

"Point taken."

"Okay just send me the folder marked wedding under _my documents_ and I should be good."

"Will do."

"I need to get back to work, call me tonight, love you."

Logan glanced at Jamie and said, "Glittery kookaburras," and heard her mumble _'men,'_ as they both hung up.

When he turned back to the computer, he saw Jamie had done an image search and had a picture of the flower Rory mentioned showing.

He looked at it and asked, "So what's a gardenia?"

She pulled that up quickly. He seemed to think and said, "I like the first one."

Jamie shook her head laughing while Logan sent the folder and then both returned to their work.

--

The paper had been sent to the printer's on time, much to Logan's relief. He was more than happy to return to his hotel, call Rory, and get some sleep. The next day he returned and had a chance to investigate the repairs needed since the system they used yesterday had worked fairly well. He was currently talking to the building inspector when he was told he had a phone call.

"Huntzberger."

"I'm blaming you."

"Colin? How did you get this number?"

"I called your office and your secretary put me through," Colin said.

"Okay, what am I being blamed for?"

"Steph called Rory to finalize their plans for tonight and after getting off the phone demanded my credit card, saying you gave Rory yours."

"So…she is going shopping for her wedding dress," said Logan perplexed.

"Yes, but Steph does not have that level of self control…need I remind you of the shopping spree of 2003?"

"Your girlfriend, not mine," Logan retorted.

"That's not even funny, stop this!"

"I actually have work to do, but I'll call Rory and ask her to keep Steph under control."

"You're a lifesaver!"

"Bye Colin," he said and hung up the phone.

--

Stephanie arrived with pizza and breadsticks in hand promptly at 7:00.

Rory answered the door, smiled at her friend, and said, "Colin called Logan who called me, I'm supposed to limit your spending tomorrow."

Steph laughed, "Good luck."

"I made no promises," Rory said, setting the food out in the living room.

"Smart girl, so how's work?"

"Good, my articles are going well, nice boss, nice co-workers….I really can't complain."

"I'm glad you like it, so what's up with this Bri girl I've heard mentioned?"

"She's really nice, and 24 so the only one my age. She's a photographer and went to University of Albany and worked at a paper near there before getting hired here. She was only there a few weeks before I was, so we're definitely the new girls in the office…I mean we have a lot in common, but that made us befriend each other even more."

"So is this like a workplace friend or a real friend?"

"At first, I thought under normal circumstances, she would be a life friend, but I mean we talk all the time and still you can tell we are holding things back…so I'm not really sure anymore."

"Rory in all fairness, you're complaining because you think she's hiding something, but she doesn't even know your name."

"I know!" Rory said, letting out her pent up frustration, "I was feeling guilty about that, and then the day Logan came to the office she asked how I knew him, it got so much worse. I didn't really lie about anything, but my answers were very misleading. Part of me wants to tell her, but I don't know if I'm ready for everyone in the office to find out."

"Do you think she would tell everyone?"

"Actually, no…..well not intentionally, but anyone can make a mistake."

"Yeah, you could or Logan…so it's not like it's a risk you're not already taking."

"I know, but what if she hates me?"

"Ask yourself, what kind of friend you want her to be. If you want her to be a work friend, just let her find out with everyone else. She may be mad, but she was deceived with everyone on staff. But if you want her to be a real friend, you need to tell her. You're right, she'll be hurt, but you're also showing her a great deal of trust. Hopefully, she will notice this, let you explain, and understand why you did it."

"I think she's a real friend."

"You think?"

"Well you can never predict these things with 100 accuracy."

"How will she react to you being Logan's future wife?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is she the type who would try to use your friendship to get her in with the boss…advance her career?"

"No!" Rory said quickly.

"You sure about that?"

"There may be things I don't know, but that I am sure of. She's not that type of girl."

Steph offered her friend a smile and a breadstick, "Then, I think she is a real friend."

"Me too," Rory said, coming to the realization herself.

"And eventually, I want to meet her. Do you think she can shop?"

Rory just laughed at Steph. The two girls ate and talked about work, life, and boys for a while.

Soon Steph redirected the conversation, "So, how are the wedding plans coming?"

"Well the plans in my head are going pretty good, but the war with society is just starting."

"That bad?"

"Actually, it's getting better. My Grandma still wants a society wedding deep down and pushes for certain things, but she is also managing to remember this is my wedding and as the bride, I have some say."

"Well that's good. Anything you need help with?" Steph asked hopefully.

"Calla lilies or gardenias?

Steph paused and the girls exchanged a look, before both said, "Calla lilies."

"I like the white ones and was thinking they would look really vibrant against the navy blue dresses and the tuxes."

"I would agree, but what about for you and Logan?"

"I haven't looked into it too much, any ideas?"

Steph thought for a moment and then went to her bag and opened up a portfolio from one of the premiere florists in the city. She flipped through the pages, obviously looking for something.

When she found it, she held up the page to show Rory, "The deep red."

"You think?"

"Yes. One, it is a beautiful color will go with navy blue and two, it represents love."

"They are gorgeous," Rory sighed.

"I know," Steph said excitedly, flipping through and showing various bouquets using the flower and talking about what changes they would make. Rory also knew that using this florist would make her grandmother happy, as she was the most sought after bridal florist in the country.

The girls spent the rest of the night looking at Rory's list and talking about some of the items. Steph had brought a pile of books to look through as they talked; Rory actually decided she did more research for this than for most papers at Yale. She was sure Steph had her whole wedding planned out from all that she knew, but was grateful she was trying to think like her for the night. Soon, they realized it was after 1:00 and headed for bed.

--

At 11:00 they headed out ready to hit some designer shops. Steph had called ahead and made appointments at Vera Wang and a few other famous-name designers to placate her grandmother. Rory could just hear Emily saying, 'You must visit every designer in New York before choosing a dress.' The plan was to look first for Rory's dress, glancing at each shop for any possible bridesmaids dresses, and if they didn't find any there were a few other places they could look.

They walked up to the first store which happened to be Vera Wang, and Rory was in awe. She had grown accustomed to having some nice things while dating Logan because he had insisted, but there were some things she wasn't used to yet.

They were soon greeted by an employee, "Hello my name is Sara, how may I help you?"

Steph wanted to roll her eyes, but answered, "Yes, we have an appointment to look at wedding gowns."

"What was the name?"

"Stephanie Vanderbilt."

"Oh yes, let me show into a private room."

They were led into the back of the store where there were two racks of dresses, one of wedding gowns and the other of navy blue dresses. Apparently, Steph had been specific.

They started with the wedding rack and found about 7 dresses Rory wanted to try on. A few were immediately ruled out, and in the end, they had 2 dresses they really liked. One slightly more, but both were what Rory had in mind.

They did the same thing with the other rack, except Steph tried them on. They had a few they liked, and then she tried one on and both girls loved it. It was a strapless dress. The top looked like it was wrapped around the body and was form fitting. At the hips, the skirt started, which flowed freely to the ground and was designed to have a looser fit. Not only was the dress beautiful, Rory felt like it would fit all of her bridesmaids well.

After they found a favorite for the bridesmaids and a few contenders for Rory, they put them on hold and talked to the Sara about possible alterations, fittings and how long an order would take to complete.

Once they left, they visited 3 more shops and tried on numerous more dresses, but never found any they liked as much as the choices from Vera Wang. They decided to go back in a week or two, hopefully with Lorelai to make a final decision. Overall, they considered the day a success.

They had finished looking at dresses quicker than they thought so Steph dragged Rory on a very small shopping spree. She got a new cocktail dress, shoes, and a pair of dress pants. Rory hadn't intended on doing any personal shopping, but spotted a suit that would be perfect for work and bought it and a pair of matching shoes.

After seeing their purchases, Steph decided they needed to make it up to Logan and Colin. Scanning the streets, Steph saw her favorite lingerie store and got an idea. Both girls bought some cute, but sexy, teddies as a surprise to distract the boys from their expenses.

--

They ended their day by going out to lunch and parting ways to go home. It was nearly 11:30 when Rory was awoken from her sleep to hear Logan come in. He saw her and kissed her forehead, stripped down to his boxers and climbed in bed.

Rory immediately curled into him, happy to have him back. She wasn't upset when he was out of town, but she also missed having him next to her while she slept.

"How was your trip?" she asked through her sleep.

He looked down at her and saw her eyes were still closed, "I'll tell you tomorrow, sleep."

"Mhmm….love you," she yawned, kissing his shoulder.

He stifled a laugh, "I love you too Ace," and kissed the top of her head.

--


	12. Logan does Girl Talk

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

_A/N: The lightening killed my internet and then ff was being difficult, so sorry for the delay. I can't say how much I really do love (and read) your reviews!_

--

The next week at work, Rory was writing a preview of a festival being held in Central Park for the Fourth of July. She had done her research and set up interviews for Monday. She was planning on covering the general event, but also wanted to include descriptions of the main activities that the festival would offer.

On Tuesday, she met the people she would be interviewing and talked with the event organizers and city officials who brainstormed the idea. All in all, they were informative, and the event organizer offered to allow her backstage for a sort of _behind the scenes_ article, which would give a more up-close look at what they had planned. She even got permission to have photographs accompany the article.

That meant she would have to talk to Bri. Ever since she talked to Steph and decided she wanted to tell her the truth, she found herself unconsciously avoiding the issue and Bri. On Monday, she ate in the break room with Bri, the same as always, but the normally chatty pair was rather quiet. Today, she avoided the newsroom all morning due to the times of her interviews. She didn't even make it into work for lunch, stopping at a taco place instead.

Now, it was near the end of the day, and she wanted to talk to Bri about going to the tour the festival on Thursday and some personal things as well. After looking for 15 minutes, she finally saw Bri get off the elevator, obviously coming up from the dark room. She gave her a few minutes before approaching.

"Hey Bri?" Rory said, trying to alert her of her presence.

"Oh Ella, you're back."

"Yep," she answered, feeling beyond awkward.

"How'd it go?" Bri asked trying to force a normal conversation.

"Really well actually, but there were a few things I was hoping to talk to you about."

"Shoot," Bri said, distractedly searching her desk.

Rory glanced at the clock, and noticing the time, said, "We're basically done here, want to go across the street for coffee while we talk?"

Bri seemed to think about it before saying, "Sure, why not."

The girls walked over to the café, ordered their drinks, and found a seat.

"What do you need," Bri pushed, feeling uncomfortable about the situation. They had never gone out after work, and she wondered what had changed today.

"First thing, are you free Thursday afternoon? I am getting a first look at the big festival coming up and wanted some pictures."

"I have another story to go on in the morning. I can make it to yours, but may need to meet you there," she said, glancing at the planner she pulled out.

"Sounds good," Rory replied, and fell silent almost loosing her nerve to continue.

"Is there anything else, I mean I love coffee too, but we could have figured that out on the walk out of the building."

Rory looked at her cup and then back at Bri, "Are we friends?"

Bri was shocked so she blurted out, "What?"

"I was talking to one of my friends, and she was saying how someone is either a work friend or a real friend. And right now you and I are work friends, but I like talking to you and we have a blast out on assignment, a lot in common too…god I'm rambling...Do you think we would ever be real friends?"

Bri was surprised by the question, but she knew what Ella was referring to because she wondered the same thing, "I think so," she finally said.

This caused Rory to give a small smile, "Good, I think so too, but I need to tell you something that I know you'll be upset about. I just hope that it won't ruin our shot at being friends."

"Okay," Bri said warily wondering what she could possibly say.

"My name isn't Ella Danes, it's Rory Gilmore. I applied and am working under a penname."

"Ella isn't your name? You are talking about being real friends and I don't even know your name! What are you, some famous person in hiding? Are you going to reveal next this isn't what you look like? Is that like a Mission Impossible style mask? Do you have a voice changer?" She ranted, taking a breath which allowed Rory to jump in.

"No this isn't a mask; this is what I really look like."

"Are you even from a small town? Was Yale even the school you went to?"

"Yes. There are only 3 things I lied to you about: my name, my boyfriend's name, well not my boyfriend, my fiancé, but that is the third thing," she said in a calm voice.

Bri just stared at the girl across from her. "Ella," she started, but shook her head, "or Rory, I have to go. I'm not sure what to say. I can't believe I considered you a friend, and all the while you were lying to me." Her voice was steady, but Rory could sense the hurt and anger building. Bri took the final sip of her coffee, set it down and stormed from the café.

Rory sat in silence, she felt so guilty for lying to Bri. If she could, Rory would have gone back and told her the truth from day one, but how was she supposed to know they would become so friendly. She closed her eyes, and then realized she hadn't even reached the part about Logan. She composed herself before heading home.

--

When Logan saw Rory walk in, he knew she was upset, "Ace, what's wrong?" He asked, walking over to her.

"I told Bri," was all she said.

"Oh." He had wanted to say more, but that was all he could come up with.

"I didn't even get it all out, that would have been easier, but she left before I got the chance."

"Maybe she'll let you tomorrow. You know go home and let it all sink in and come back asking questions," he offered, trying to reassure her and make her see reason.

"Maybe," Rory sighed unconvinced.

"Come on, don't worry about it, nothing you can do right now."

"I know, but I feel horrible. I can't even blame her for being angry."

Logan looked at her. There was nothing he could say, so he went for comfort, "Want to watch a movie?"

"Willy Wonka?" she asked in a quiet voice.

He sighed and got up to put the movie in for what he seriously suspected was the 100th time, at least. When he walked back to the couch, he saw her give a real smile as it started, so Logan sat down ready for the Oompa Loompas.

--

The next morning, Rory arrived at work a few minutes early. The night before, she and Logan had talked more, and Rory decided she needed to find a way to talk to Bri. She was confident that if Bri heard her reasons, she would be much more understanding. Rory sat at her desk going through some miscellaneous paperwork wondering how to approach Bri.

Not much later, the person in question walked in, and Rory walked over. Bri took one look at Rory, glared at her, found who she was looking for, and left the office. Rory heard a while later that they were finishing up a story and should be back soon after lunch. This allowed Rory to temporarily relax and get some work done. As she worked, in the back of her mind, she was still trying to find a way to fix her situation.

Rory was thankful when lunch came and, upon her return, saw the reporter that had left earlier with Bri. She looked around and didn't see her and couldn't help but think she was being avoided. A while later, Bri came in and sat at her desk to quickly look over some papers that had been left there before quickly leaving again. It wasn't until nearly 5:30 that she returned again, this time with a pile of photographs with her. She sat down, sorted them into two piles and walked them over to the reporters she had been working with earlier.

She seemed to be done for the day, so Rory finally took her chance. "Bri?" she asked softly.

Bri looked up and a look of anger quickly appeared on her face, "I have nothing to say to you."

"I understand you're mad," Rory was trying to make Bri give her a chance to explain.

"Mad? I want to scream at you," she said in a deadly, but quiet, tone.

"And I deserve it, but can we go somewhere private first?" Rory suggested, hoping to hold off the tirade that would let the whole newsroom in on her secret. Bri stayed silent so Rory added, "You can yell all you want, but after, I ask you give me 2 minutes to explain. After that, you can leave if you want or ask more questions, but I want you to know I do have my reasons."

Bri was still fuming, but part of her was desperate to hear Rory out. The truth was she really missed having a friend at work and was curious about Rory's reasons. "Fine," she finally spoke, "where should we go, and I warn you yelling may occur, so choose wisely."

Rory thought for a moment and then said, "If you're okay with it, my place is only a few blocks from here. We could go there, and then you can yell as loud as you want," she offered.

Bri only nodded, so both girls left, taking a cab to Rory's building, which gave Bri time to cool down. When they arrived, Bri glanced around the apartment in awe.

"This is nice," Bri stated, then blurted, "How can you afford this? I mean…I know my salary and I have a guess about yours…"

"I promise I'll explain this," Rory said gesturing to her surroundings, "but can we get the yelling done first?"

"I want to scream, but really I'm just hurt."

"I can imagine," Rory said teasing, an attempt to lighten the mood.

"It's just I don't really have many friends here, because I'm new and all, except for my sister, but she's busy with school. And then, I meet you, and I thought you were becoming one, only to find out everything I know about you is a lie…Well, I was shocked at first, then I was just mad, and now I'm not sure what I am."

Rory just nodded in agreement, "What I said yesterday is still true. There were only three things I lied about. I know they were big things, but everything else was true. I really am the person you met, just my name was wrong."

"But Ella….I mean Rory…god I don't even know what to call you!"

"Call me Rory," she said, then added, "But I guess you can't call me that at work, we'll have to figure that out."

"Okay Rory, I guess I have no idea what else to say to you so now is your chance to explain, and it better be good."

"Well, it all has to do with my fiancé. I'll get to more on him in a minute, but for now let's just say he's well known in some circles. We've been together for just over 2 years, and the night before my graduation he asked me to marry him. I accepted, but afterwards realized that news of this would get out. Now, I love him and am happy to be marrying him, but I know some people will never see me as anything more than his wife. I don't want critics to overlook any of my journalistic accomplishments because of him or have my co-workers think he's the only reason I got a job, and both are likely to happen if they knew."

Bri stared at her for a few minutes. It was a lot to take in, she still had questions, but Rory seemed genuinely concerned about those things, and if her assumptions were true, Bri couldn't blame her.

First, she needed some things cleared up, "Did you think I would be one of those co-workers?"

Rory was surprised she even thought that, "No! I've been feeling guilty about this for a while. Well, not for most people at work, but I've wanted to tell you for a while, and I really believed you could be trusted with this."

"Who else at _The Observer_ knows?"

"Charles Holmes," Rory said firmly, driving home how much trust she really was putting in Bri.

"And…" Bri assumed that there had to be more who knew her true identity.

"**ONLY** Charles Holmes knows. When I created my identity, I held off telling anyone until I got a job. Then, I only told the person who absolutely needed to know."

Bri smiled, seeming to get Rory's point, "That makes me feel better. Who is the mystery fiancé?"

Rory took a deep breath, hoping this would continue to go smoothly, "Logan Huntzberger."

Bri looked at her shocked before exclaiming, "You can't be his fiancé. When he was at the paper, I read that her name was Lorelai." Bri felt like Ella, or Rory, was making her go dizzy and began getting more upset.

Rory quietly replied, "My full name is Lorelai Leigh Gilmore…" gaining strength, she added, "but I swear **EVERYONE** calls me Rory, when your mom is whacked out on demerol and names you after herself, you need a nickname," Rory added the last part, not wanting Bri to think she had lied about her name again.

Bri gasped, "I asked you if you ever dated him, and you told me no! You said you hated him! So you lied about that too," Bri yelled, getting her second wind.

"No," Rory said firmly and waited for Bri to calm down. "When you asked if I dated him, I said I worked with him for an article and got to know him better, I never answered the question."

"But you said you hated him!" She pushed, realizing Rory was right about her first point.

"Oh, trust me, she did," a new voice added.

Bri gasped at seeing her boss really standing in front of her and stared at him surprised. It finally sunk in that Rory really was engaged to Logan Huntzberger. She also noticed Rory had the same shocked look she had, apparently she hadn't noticed he was there either.

He smirked at both girls and decided to break the silence, "Hello Ace, I guess this means you told Brianna."

Rory nodded as Bri seemed to come out of a daze and spoke, "Mr. Huntzberger, I didn't mean to say she hated you." She was stumbling over her words, still regretting what part of their conversation her boss walked in on. From the looks of it, he had just walked in himself. Bri silently cursed herself that she couldn't have held her tongue or her boss could have been only a minute later arriving home.

"First, if you're going to be hanging out with Ace outside the office you'll be seeing me more, which is fine except you need to call me Logan," he said with a reassuring smile, "Second, she really did hate me."

Rory jumped in, "Hate may be a strong word, extremely disliked."

"You called me a butt-faced miscreant." Bri had to hold in a snicker at that comment. She didn't think that her boss would appreciate her laughing at him. But, he did seem amused at the bickering with his fiancé.

"And you were, that didn't mean I hated you."

"I think the adjectives arrogant, selfish, and lowlife were used. You even compared me to Judy Dench!"

"So? Someone had to tell you how much of an ass you were being," her voice sounded mad; however, a smile was on her face.

Bri looked on shocked at the couple before her. She never imagined Ella's boyfriend being quite like Logan, and she certainly never imagined Mr. Huntzberger's fiancé to be like her friend at work. Her mind wondered to how great it will be when all the gossipers at the office realize who Mr. Huntzberger's fiancé actually was. She smiled as she thought about Jacobson telling the two of them Logan wanted to fire them. She finally understood why Ella was so calm when he threatened them…if only Jacobson knew…

Snapping out of her thoughts, Bri asked, "So why are you marrying him?" She had temporarily forgotten the argument and was thoroughly entertained by the couple in front of her.

Logan looked at the two girls, "Okay, it seems you have more to talk about, so I'll go out and get dinner. Brianna, do you like Thai?"

"Ummm…yes, but I'm going to go after we finish talking. It should only be a few more minutes."

Logan laughed, he felt bad because he could tell she was intimidated by him, "It's fine, you are more than welcome here, but really, you should stay for dinner. It will give you two more time to talk, and hopefully by the end, I won't scare you any more." He paused and noticed Bri looked like she was about to protest, so he added, "And don't say you feel like you're intruding, you're not."

She looked at him surprised, "Okay, I'll stay," and saw Logan give her a brief smile.

Logan walked over to Rory and whispered, "Is everything okay?"

She nodded and gave him a quick kiss before he left. Rory looked at Bri and saw she was still very unsure about everything, so she answered her last question, "When I met Logan I was dating this guy, it was stupid and an entirely different story, but I didn't like the way he and his friends talked to one of mine. When I saw him the next day, he didn't remember me, but got a piece of my mind anyways. For a while after that, every time we saw each other it wasn't good. Then, I got a lead on a story and needed Logan's help to get inside information. He helped me, and I started to see another side to him. There were a bunch of other little things over the next few months. Then to make a long story short, we dated casually for about 2 months before becoming exclusive. That summer, I was stressed out and trying to figure out what to do with my life, especially career wise. I can say Logan was the only person unconditionally there for me, always by my side being supportive, not even my mom can say that. Then late in the fall, we broke up over a stupid fight and misunderstanding, soon after winter term started we got back together and have been ever since. I don't really know how to explain it, but I love him and I know he loves me. It sounds cliché, I know, but it's the truth, and he really isn't the guy everyone assumes he is."

Bri knew what she meant by that. "You mean like the rumors of him cheating?" She wagered, unsure how Rory would react.

Rory started laughing, "Yeah, like that. You were right though, listening to the gossip sucks, but I know he's faithful to me."

Bri understood and curiosity began to over take her, so she asked one more question about it, "What about the girl on the phone?"

"Oh Steph. She's actually a very good friend of mine; I met her when I started dating Logan. She's known him since she was 6, BUT is also dating and very much in love with Colin, one of Logan's best friends."

Bri laughed, "So you didn't worry about the call at all, huh?"

"Nope, but you'd have to meet Steph, which you will eventually, for it all to make perfect sense."

"But why did he say that he loved her?"

"Steph called Logan to ask him if she could borrow a pair of my shoes that matched her new outfit she bought for a dinner with Colin. Well, I have stopped letting her borrow my stuff because she forgets to return it, and then I can't find anything when I need it, I swear she's worse than my mother…Anyways, she called Logan. He, in his infinite wisdom, told her that she could borrow my shoes, so she professed her love for him, to which he sarcastically returned the affection."

"Wow," Bri exclaimed. There really was a good reason for what the conversation she heard her boss have at the newsroom.

"Any other questions?"

"This really has all to do with Logan?" Bri needed to hear it again; there was a lot of information.

"Think about it, how many people would say the only reason I was hired was because of him. OR people who would not take my articles seriously because my future last name means that I should be some brain dead bimbo. They would make assumptions without ever looking at my credentials or seriously reviewing my work. I know people will find out eventually, I just want to make a strong enough impression on them first, so that they can't really doubt my place or future at the paper."

Bri was stunned at the confession and thought back to all the rumors at work about Logan's fiancé and suddenly just felt bad for Rory. "It must suck," she knew it wasn't much, but she couldn't think of what else to say.

"It does."

"How can you not say anything?"

"Just like Logan, I am technically a part of society. My mom raised me away from it, but because of my grandparents I've always been connected. My entire life has been subject to gossip. Can you even imagine a society woman being engaged and still working. Scandal! People in society gossip just as much as those in the newsroom, trust me, I learned to turn a deaf ear a long time ago."

"I never thought those things," Bri said softly.

"I know, that's why I liked talking to you and why I felt so guilty for holding out the truth. So are we okay?"

"You know, I came here today telling myself no excuse would be good enough…"

"Oh," Rory said disappointed.

"But if there was a good excuse, that is it. I mean, I'm still a little hurt, but I really do understand."

"Anything I can do to make you feel better? Any more info you want," Rory teased, feeling comfortable with Bri for the first time in a while.

"Hmmm…well I now know how you can afford this place, so don't need to ask that. What's your life like here, lots of shopping?"

"Only when Steph drags me, she's a pro. You have to come with us."

"Do you get along with Logan's friends?"

"At first, I was a little wary of them, but now, yes. First, there is Colin, the responsible one of the group. Likes school and is more reserved compared to the others, which is good because Steph needs someone like that. Finn is well Finn. He's actually a really sweet guy, very protective of those close to him, but knows how to have fun…actually he is an expert on the topic. The 5 of us are close, and we all live in the city now. It's really nice to have them here; it made the transition much easier." Rory realized as she was explaining all of this, for as much as she and Bri talked they hadn't gotten into specifics about people in their lives, it had stayed much more general and people were only mentioned in passing. "What about you, know anyone in the city?"

At this, Bri started talking about living with Rebecca and Madelyn in the Bronx. They talked in more detail about where they were from. Rory told her about her family, Lane, and Paris. Bri talked about her family back near Albany, her parents and youngest sister Vanessa, and a few old friends there. They learned a lot about each other and both definitely now considered themselves real friends. Yes, they didn't know everything about each other, but now the door was open, and they were confident it would remain so. Time seemed to fly and when Logan returned, they realized 45 minutes had passed.

"How is everything?" he asked, knowing how tense it was when he left.

In response, he heard giggles and Rory say, "Good, I was just telling her about the first time you met my parents," to which the giggles increased.

"Lovely, so I take it you've explained the situation," he asked walking into the room.

"Yep, and she understands. Since then, we've been talking about our friends and family, you know girl talk."

"And you think I'm an expert on girl talk?"

"I've seen you and the boys gossip, you're just as bad as we are."

"Dinner's here," he announced as an attempted distraction.

"Nice try Huntzberger, but I'll be coming back to that later."

The three of them grabbed food and sat down. At first, Logan was trying to stay out of the conversation, knowing Bri was nervous around him. Eventually, he got dragged into the conversation, 20 minutes later when Bri finally told him to stop calling her Brianna and use Bri like everyone else, he realized she was no longer nervous in front of him.

"Hey Rory?" she asked, just now noticing something.

"Yeah?" Rory replied, lowering the fork from her mouth.

"Where's your ring? I mean, you should have a ring, right?"

"Yeah Ace, where's your ring?" Logan teased, "it's a sign of my love and affection, doesn't that mean anything?"

"Hush you!" she chided, pulling out her chain and removing the ring to put it back on.

Bri still could not get over how Logan and Rory interacted. After having spent time here, she really understood what Rory had mean by, _'after spending some time with him I saw him in a different light.'_ She never would have guessed he was this normal of a person, yes he was rich, but still normal. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Rory showing her, her ring, now properly back on her finger.

"It's beautiful," she gushed. She could tell it was expensive, but it was very tasteful.

"I know, I fell in love at first sight. It's sad when I take it off everyday," she pouted.

"Why do you? Take it off I mean."

"Because people, well women, would be much more insistent on meeting my fiancé than they are my boyfriend. And since I am trying to not draw attention to my Huntzberger connection, if you will, I down graded our status at work."

"Makes sense," Bri offered.

"It was actually Mitchum's idea to wear the ring on a chain. He got it for me as a graduation present, and I am grateful I don't think I could part with it everyday."

"I can imagine, Logan really it is a beautiful ring," Bri said, much more comfortable with Logan, but still a little shy.

Before Logan could respond Rory jumped in, "You think his taste in jewelry is good, you should see his ability to pick out dresses," she told Bri.

"Why must you mock me, need I remind you that you benefit from these talents?" Logan said, pretending to be hurt. This caused Bri to laugh.

"I know, but it's still a little unnerving at how good you are at it. See this is why I think you are an expert at girl talk."

"Well you know Steph told me that Colin told her that Finn's mom said…" he started in a gossiping tone.

This caused Rory and Bri to laugh even harder. They continued to talk for a while longer before Bri said she needed to get home.

After Bri left, Rory collapsed onto the couch, exhausted from the day she had. It was hard to not talk to Bri for a few days and then have to rehash most of the events of the past two years to explain her life now. When Logan finally dragged Rory to bed that night, she was happy at the turn of events. It looked like she was right about her new friend and was glad Logan liked her too. She knew that when Logan next came to the newsroom, she would have someone to talk to about it. She felt that Bri may also help by stopping the rumor mill. And, she knew that when her identity came out, she had at least one staunch supporter.

Back at her apartment, Bri was getting to bed after spending some time with Madelyn and Rebecca, and was having very similar thoughts to Rory. She was relieved to have a friend here: She missed her friends from Albany, and her family could only help so much. She knew that Rory would likely need her help at work, especially when who she really was got out. But, she also needed someone to talk to when her life got stressful or wanted to relax, and the more Rory had talked about Steph, the more Bri thought she would like her too.

--

_A/N: Please read and review! Any and all feedback is welcome, so please let me know!_

_I also want to send a huge thank you to my beta, Christi, for helping make this chapter MUCH, MUCH better! So, since I know how much you wanted song lyrics in my fic here you go ;-)_

"_Did you ever know that you're my hero"…hehehe_


	13. The Pro's beat the Con's

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

_A/N: Just for one more clarification if it wasn't clear earlier: This fic only followed everything up to the Bridesmaids episode: meaning Logan didn't cheat, Rory didn't go to Philly, Lorelai didn't sleep with Chris…I think those are the major ones. _

_I hope you like the chapter, I know my beta and I did :-)_

--

A few days had passed since Bri had been at the apartment, and Rory was happy with her choice to let Bri in on her secret. Somehow work seemed even better than when she alone knew her true identity. These thoughts were the only thing making her smile as she finished pinning her hair up for tonight's event for the _Times_. She, of course, was attending with Logan and was not at all happy about it. Although many reporters and editors would be there, the party would also include several friends of Mitchum's, which meant society. Logan promised her he wouldn't leave her alone for too long, which was a small reassurance, she knew how he could get pulled away.

She looked herself over in the mirror, admiring the dress Logan had surprised her with for tonight. It simply was perfect, a light blue dress that fell loosely just below her knees, while the top was fitted, held up by twin spaghetti straps. It was classy and elegant, yet she really loved it because it was also still youthful enough for her age. She stepped out of the bathroom to find Logan ready to go.

--

When the limo pulled up in front of the hotel where the event was being held, Rory became wide-eyed at all the reporters. She was never as annoyed with her own profession as she was at that moment. Logan noticed her tense up and asked, "What's wrong?"

Rory just looked at him and pointed out the window.

"Rory we're at an event for the _Times_, you had to know there would be press."

She nodded, "Inside yes, I never thought there would be anyone outside. We're not celebrities!"

"But we are influential, so is this a problem?"

"If I want to keep my face out of print, yes. I figured the photographers inside would be photographers from Huntzberger Media," she explained quickly.

"Yes…" Logan supplied, not seeing her point.

"So you or your dad could keep certain pictures out the press."

"Ah, I see," Logan sighed, and then rolled down the privacy glass, "Frank can you drive down into the parking garage?"

"Yes, sir," Frank replied before turning a corner.

The limo proceeded down a ramp, allowing them to take the elevator from the garage to the lobby. While they waited for the elevator, Rory wrapped her arms around Logan's waist and asked, "Have I thanked you?"

"For what?" he questioned.

"For going along with my plan. It's been a lot more work to keep up my identity than I originally planned," she explained, leaning her head on his shoulder.

He turned to her and laughed, "This is what I expected."

"Really? Then, why would you agree? I mean this is getting crazy!" she exclaimed, looking at him as if he were nuts. Just then, the elevator opened and they stepped on.

"Because I know how much it means to you. I know that marrying me affects your life more, I grew up in this life. So if having a pen name gives you the career you want, then it's the least I can do," he said truthfully.

"Logan I knew what marrying you meant, and I said yes," she said giggling, before smiling at his concern, "Don't think I'm unhappy with any of this. I love my life, I love you. I know everything won't be the way I planned it when I was younger, that's okay because I couldn't know what it would be like to be in love. Besides I figure we're smart, we went to Yale, so we can figure out how to make everything blend," she said, before giving him a quick kiss and stepping off the elevator.

Logan stared at her in awe. He always knew that her brain was always analyzing and making lists, but he had a feeling this was something she had thought about for a long time before he proposed. He had been worried she would blame him one day for not having her dream career, but now he understood that her dream had changed to include him. She had realized a long time ago that if they stayed together she would eventually be brought into this life. He wondered how long the pro/con list was or when she made it, but knew in the end, the side for their relationship had won. It was why she answered without hesitation that day in the cabin, she had decided before he had. Those thoughts helped him erase any lingering doubts he had. She really was okay with his world, and that was a satisfying feeling. She would be happy, and that was all he wanted.

He had stopped walking as his thoughts consumed him, and when he came out of his daze, he saw Rory looking at him confused. "You okay?" she questioned.

"Yep, just realized something," he replied, kissing her cheek.

Before she could question him further, he took her arm and led her through the lobby, and the first person they saw was Shira, before they even entered the ballroom.

"Good evening Mother," Logan said, quickly kissing her cheek.

"Logan, Rory, how are you?" she asked politely.

"Good," Logan said.

"How are the wedding plans coming? Have you finalized a date?" Shira said, not happy with how their last meeting had ended.

"December 15th, and the planning is going well," Rory gritted through her teeth with a fake society voice.

Just then, Logan heard his father call his name from inside the ballroom and motion him over. He glanced from Rory to his mother. "I won't be more than a minute," he whispered to Rory and walked away quickly.

"Father," Logan greeted sternly, his eyes never leaving Rory.

"Logan, excellent," Mitchum said, shaking his hand.

"Is this important, I need to get back," he could almost feel the seconds tick by.

"And what's so important?"

Logan pointed to Rory and Shira, "Do you want them to argue here?"

Mitchum took in the two women staring at each other, "No, but find me later."

Logan nodded his head and walked back to Rory, noticing that neither she nor his mother had spoken yet. He started to get his hopes up that a fight would be avoided, when he heard his mother speak, as he walked up behind her.

"Rory, have you found a location for the wedding?"

"Logan and I found a church just outside Hartford for the ceremony and the reception will be held at the Dragonfly," Rory managed to say, while remaining calm.

Shira looked Rory over and spit back, "I don't see how you think your barn dance will be appropriate for our guests. Do you really want to embarrass Richard and Mitchum in front of their collogues like that?"

"Mother," Logan cut in before Rory could respond.

"What?" she snapped, yet quiet enough not to be over heard.

"The Dragonfly is an Inn and has been rated as one of the top 5 in Connecticut."

"Really?" Shira asked, skeptical of the creditability of the statement.

"Yes, and had you asked about it, or better yet visited it, before passing judgment you would have realized that."

"I just don't want this wedding to embarrass our family Logan. I'm looking out for your best interest, a failed event of this size and importance could make you be talked about and shunned for years for having an event faux pas."

"How has anything we planned even border on inappropriate?"

"Having the reception in her hick town with some unqualified chef catering! I guess she is just happy not to be wearing a homemade dress and marrying a relative," Shira answered with disgust.

Rory wasn't sure if she was about to laugh or cry at this last jab. The urge to laugh was because if for some crazy reason she and Jess stayed together, they would have technically become family. A fact that still weirded them out anytime it was mentioned. Not that they were as close as they were before, but they were friendly when they saw each other and could joke about everything that had happened before. Logan and Jess were even okay, a peace that was reached when Logan realized that Jess's romantic interest in Rory was buried deep in the past. The urge to cry was because even after all of her accomplishments, Shira still thought so low of her.

She was about to defend herself, when Logan stepped in again, "Mom, the town is small, not the sticks, you've never been there. Sookie's food is excellent, Dad had some at Rory's graduation party you refused to attend and said it was better than what is served at your society events. As for a dress, what would be wrong if Lorelai made it? It would be beautiful, you've even seen Rory wear dresses that she has made and never noticed that they weren't designer."

Rory was surprised at Logan's outburst: Normally, he bit his tongue when his parent's talked to him like that. He always avoided this kind of confrontation. He always said it wasn't worth the argument when he would do it his way in the end regardless.

"Logan, this isn't acceptable for someone in your position. You should be married at the Vineyard to someone willing to be the type of wife you need. Think of how this reflects on us."

"No mother, you need to listen. First, Rory is the wife I need, end of discussion. Second, this is our wedding. It is not about you, it is about us, and do not try to guilt me with the _'uphold the family name'_ spiel. I have done everything Dad has asked and beyond. He's fine with this so why aren't you?"

"Logan she doesn't want this life," Shira exclaimed, trying desperately to make him see her point.

Logan laughed, "I know, and I also know you don't approve, but I will only say this once: Don't make me choose between you and Rory, she will always win. I want her to be happy, when we are married she is my family, and my family will be my top priority, I will protect them at any cost. If you continue to insult her, you will not be welcome in my home, and we won't be coming to yours: not for holidays, not for some society event, nothing. Honor and Josh will always be welcome, as will Dad, if he doesn't take on your views. As for you, you have a choice to make, and I warn you to choose wisely."

As he finished his threat, he noticed he had, for the first time, made his mother speechless, but now the two had locked eyes and refused to flinch. This deadlock caused Logan to miss Rory slip away into a side room and close the door.

Shira finally regained her composure and seethed, "How dare you talk to me like that!"

"How dare I?" He challenged, "You've never given her a chance, you wrote her off before you even met her, and she is even from society."

"Biologically. She was a mistake, a scandal, you should know bastard children aren't recognized in most circles." Shira said, confident that she held her trump card over her son until she saw a look flash over his face.

"Never call her that. I'm not expecting you to become best friends, but you should have given her a chance before you passed judgment, society or not. And even if you refuse to do so, she will be my wife, and as such, you will treat her with respect. Never talk about her like that again if you want to attend our wedding or **_ever_** meet your grandchildren," Logan commanded, with a venom in his voice she had never heard.

Shira watched Logan walk away. She wondered where she went so wrong with her children for them to not realize the importance of a 'suitable' spouse. She hoped her son was issuing idle threats because she refused to accept Rory, but she realized that she may have just pushed her son out of her life for good.

--

Mitchum watched from across the room as Logan approached his wife. Soon both looked to be exchanging none-to-friendly words, while Rory stood back. Then it came to a halt, and if he hadn't seen the look of shock on Shira's face or the look of fury on Logan's, he could have assumed it was a schoolyard staring contest.

He then saw Rory go into a side room unnoticed, clearly upset. When Logan didn't follow, Mitchum wondered what to do. On one hand, she looked upset, and he wanted to know what had happened, on the other, he didn't know her very well and wasn't the best when it came to comforting people. He was still undecided when he remembered telling Logan he would put in more of an effort; with a sigh, he excused himself and went towards the room she had entered. When he opened the door, he saw her crying silently, sitting on the window ledge.

--

She heard the door open; hoping whoever it was would leave, but not such luck. When she looked up, she was surprised to see Mitchum. She wasn't sure if he came in here after her or was trying to get away for a moment himself. Before she could decide, he spoke.

--

Mitchum was trying to figure out what to say when she looked up at him. Tears on her face, bloodshot eyes, but underneath it all, he saw them: big blue eyes full of hurt. It was a look that made his brain stop, he hadn't seen a look like that since Honor was very young. She had lost that look of complete innocence long ago, but seeing all of those things in Rory's face at that moment caused a protective instinct to overcome him. He was never a hands-on father, yes he had been extremely protective of his children, but it was in his own way. So now, he was unsure what to do. He didn't know what to say and the only thing he could think to do was yell at the person who caused this, but knew it was because of Shira and didn't want to fight with his wife.

"Rory?" he asked, letting the reporter in him take over and do what he did when trying to uncover any story: start asking questions.

"I don't want to cause a fight," she whispered, ignoring the questioning tone of Mitchum's voice.

"What fight?" he asked, needing to know what had been said.

"Shira said some stuff then Logan started making threats."

"What did Shira say?" he questioned, pushing for information.

"She thinks the wedding will embarrass you in front of your collogues and is inappropriate for your family," she stated calmly.

Mitchum needed more than that, so many things could make his wife say that. "What do you have planned?"

"The ceremony is going to be at a church we found near Hartford and the reception is at the Dragonfly in Stars Hallow. Did you see it while you were there?" She asked.

Mitchum shook his head, wishing he had so he could say something to help.

"She called the Inn a barn and implied we were having a hoe down," she explained and then let her thoughts flow out freely, "I know I'm from a small town, but a hoe down, really? And the Dragonfly is beautiful. When mom was planning her wedding, she was frustrated because the dining room couldn't seat more than 50 people. After her honeymoon, the Inn was doing well, so she and Sookie decided to expand the grounds to included a large banquet hall. They wanted to be able to accommodate larger gatherings, like weddings and reunions, to increase their market. It seats just over 200. So yeah, it's in my town, but it's an excellent facility, and it wouldn't feel right if no part of my wedding was there. You know when I was little, I always imagined I would get married in the town square at the gazebo, like mom, but I know Shira and Grandma would never approve. I figured, give them a church and still use the Dragonfly…a sort of compromise, but no it's still not good enough," she was almost yelling, tears of frustration streaming down her face.

Mitchum held out his handkerchief, causing Rory to jump, she had forgotten he was there, and asked, "What did Logan say?"

"He defended our choices, telling her she didn't know what she was talking about. You know Shira doesn't think Sookie's food will be any good," she told him, laughing a little.

Mitchum knew she was trying to change the subject, "She would be wrong about that, and from what I've heard, wrong about this not being up to my family standards too. It may not be how she would do it, but it sounds more than acceptable," he said, giving her a smile, trying to calm her down, "Now what else happened?"

Rory sighed, "Logan said she would not be welcome in his home if she continued speaking to me like that and if that is the case, not to expect him at your house for anything. He told her she had a choice, and that is when I left, I'm not sure what happened next."

Mitchum was surprised to hear what threats Logan had made. Both men were aware how much Shira always wanted him to come home, but Mitchum also respected him for standing up for Rory like that.

"So why are you crying? It seems like Logan did the right thing," Mitchum pointed out.

Rory gave her first smile, "He did. It meant a lot to have him defend us like that, but I don't want to be the reason he cuts off communication. I mean I learned years ago that to most of society, I'm just a scandal. I can learn to deal with her whispers, but you only get 2 parents."

"Rory, Logan is doing what he feels he needs to. I happen to think he is right, Shira should not be talking to you like that, and he is making his point with threats he knows she will take seriously."

"She may say it to my face, but at least I know where I stand. It's better than people who pretend to like you, only to talk behind their back once they are gone," she said, making eye contact for the first time.

"Is that an accusation?" Mitchum questioned, going on the defensive before he could stop himself.

"No, a fact. I have no idea what you think of me. I don't know if you're being nice to uphold appearances, to try to stay on Logan's good side, or because you actually like me," not backing down from his glare. Her frustration from the unspoken standoff she was having with her soon to be father-in-law finally becoming too much.

Mitchum wasn't sure how to respond; hell, he wasn't even sure he knew what he thought. But here she was, not showing any sign of letting him off without an answer, no one except his father had demanded that of him. "Fair enough, so let me tell you. I have an opinion of you as a journalist and as my son's fiancé. I hope that we have cleared the air regarding your work and you know what I think." Rory nodded, so he continued, "I said earlier that I think Logan was right to defend you, which is because I always went to any means to protect my family. We go about it differently, but the essence is the same. One of the things I tried to protect my family from was people using them for their name or money."

Rory opened her mouth to speak, but Mitchum held up a hand, "No, you want to know what I think, and I am giving you that. I haven't had a chance to know you; in fact, I probably learned more about your character in the past 10 minutes than I had in the 2 years you've been with Logan. I'm not blaming anyone for that, but it's the truth. And I have to tell you, I was sure you were with Logan because you wanted those things from him, especially the name, maybe even a job too. Now, the job was the first to drop from that list, but the money and name couldn't be ignored. But from everything you've said in the last 10 minutes, it makes me realize that you really love him regardless of his name. And, I think your grandparents will leave you enough money that you couldn't possibly need more. Ever since the engagement was made public, I've been hearing about your great-grandmother leaving you a good deal of money also. So, I must drop the other 2 from the list as well."

"So if everything is off the list, what does that mean?" she questioned, wanting a clearer answer.

Mitchum sighed, he wasn't sure what made him change his mind, but he knew a large part was seeing her look so vulnerable when he walked in. Scheming socialites didn't show those emotions, in fact, he was almost convinced they couldn't feel those emotions. When he saw her like that, he knew it wasn't an act, he also wondered how Logan had money in the bank; how could you deny a girl with those eyes.

"That I'm happy Logan found you," he said truthfully, realizing how lucky his son really was.

"Well, I'm happy he found me too," she said, trying to ease some of the tension that had built up.

"What do you think Logan will do about Shira?" Mitchum asked, going back to their conversation.

"I'm not sure, but any hostilely that may get directed to your house, please don't think includes you. I know how much it means to Logan that your relationship has improved over the past year, I wouldn't want to see it suffer now."

Mitchum wasn't sure what to say, he wasn't a _'let's talk about our feeling guy,'_ so he went for a topic change. "Is there anything I can do to help with the wedding?"

Rory smiled at the response, "Can you make Shira see reason?" she joked.

"I'll try. Anything else?"

Rory started running down the wedding check list she had basically memorized, "Actually, I wasn't sure who to ask, but I think you'll know. Where do you buy wedding bands for the groom? And how do I find out his ring size?"

He had to laugh at the question. "Well you can ask him his ring size, or have him get it measured. It's not a surprise like an engagement ring. And most jewelry stores sell men's rings, but if you like I can contact Harry Winston and Cartier for you to set up an appointment to view their collections. In fact if there is nothing you like, you can talk to one of their designers to create your own."

"That would be very helpful."

"Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Well, if I can do anything to help, please call."

"I can do that," she said, feeling much better after talking to Mitchum.

"So are you feeling well enough to go back out there? I'm sure Logan is getting worried," Mitchum hinted.

"Logan," she exclaimed and walked towards the door, "Oh here, I almost forgot," handing back his handkerchief, which Mitchum put in his pocket.

--

Logan had been searching for Rory for 15 minutes, even going as far as asking Katie to look for her in the girl's bathroom. Finally, he spotted her coming out of a room off of the lobby. He was surprised to see his dad close behind, both looking unharmed. He had figured she had gotten upset by his mother and wanted to be alone, but was glad to see she looked okay now.

Walking up to her, he saw tearstains on her cheeks and pulled her close, "I'm sorry she said those things, she had no right."

"Thank you for standing up for me," she replied, resting her head against his chest.

"Anytime," he said, kissing her hair.

Logan looked up to see his father watching on, remembering that he promised to talk to him later so he told Rory, "I need to talk to my dad, why don't you go in, and I'll be there soon. I saw Dan and Katie when I was looking for you, they asked about you. I told them I would send you over at some point."

Rory knew he was trying to keep her away from Shira, but wasn't going to complain, so she kissed him and walk inside.

"What was that all about?" Logan asked, pointing to where his father and Rory had appeared from.

"I saw Rory leave while you were arguing with your mother, and I know I told you I would try so I made an effort."

"Is she okay?"

"I think so, she was crying when I found her."

Logan nodded, "I thought so. What did she tell you?"

Mitchum told Logan what he and Rory talked about. When he finished Logan spoke, "Thank you for talking to her. She was right though, the ultimatum I gave was to mom, and mom only. It has nothing to do with you."

"I appreciate that Logan, but she is my wife."

"Fine, but I should tell you it's more than just than family gatherings on the line now."

"What happened after Rory left?" Mitchum asked concerned.

"I told Mom she wasn't being fair that even though Rory was society she never gave her a chance."

"Well that doesn't sound too bad," he wagered.

"It wasn't," Mitchum noticed his son almost shaking with anger before he spoke again, "She told me that bastard children aren't recognized as society, that all she was was a scandal."

Mitchum could see how much this comment bothered Logan, and then remembered Rory saying she knew that's what was said about her. He let out a sigh, not even wanting to know what Logan had said next, but needed to, "What did you tell her Logan?"

"I yelled at her again about the same stuff as before," Logan took a breath and looked directly at his father, "and then I told her she had to show her respect if she wanted to attend our wedding or ever see her grandchildren."

"You what?" Mitchum yelled, the situation much worse than he imagined.

"I can't listen to mom talk about her like that. I told you, nothing I said to mom has anything to do with you. You have been polite to her; you even admitted tonight that she was good for me. Trust me, you are more than welcome, but not mom. Not if she is going to say those things."

"I don't disagree with you Logan, I'll talk to your mom."

"I don't want to cut mom out, but I can't handle seeing that look on Rory's face again."

"I told Rory and I'll tell you. You did what you felt was right."

"So what else do you need to talk to me about?"

Mitchum started talking about a potential paper acquisition and some other issues going on. The discussion finally broke when they heard an announcement asking everyone to be seated for dinner.

--

Rory was walking around the ballroom looking for Dan and Katie, being the only people here she both knew and would voluntarily talk to, she decided finding them would be her best chance at survival. Although she was still upset about Shira's attitude towards her, it was expected, she was more focusing on Mitchum's new found opinion, and that had her in a fairly decent mood.

Eventually, she spotted Dan and Katie standing with a mostly male group of about 8 to 10 around their age, so she approached, "Hey Dan, Katie."

"Rory, you're here," Katie said, happy to see her.

"Yep, I came to find you."

"Where's your other half?" teased Dan

"Talking business," she said with a playful eye roll.

"Of course. So are we your sanctuary?"

"If you would be so kind, I've already had one run in tonight."

"Okay, everyone this is Rory. Rory these are some writers for the _Times_: John, his girlfriend Stacy, Marcus, Shawn, Janet, Ben, and his girlfriend Hilary."

"Hi," Rory said with a small wave, not sure how else to greet that many people.

"Hi," they responded.

"So," Marcus said stepping in, "Why haven't I seen you before around the office before?" giving her a noticeable once over.

"Because I don't work at the _Times_," she said with a smirk. She knew two of the guys were openly checking her out, and she realized how long it had been since she had been hit on. Not that she was interested, but it was amusing to watch knowing they were going to fail.

Dan brought the conversation back to their previous discussion: the quality of writing in the media and modern literature. There were many opinions shared, and once Rory became relaxed with the group, she started adding hers. She was not overly argumentative, but had a persuasion in her voice that had everyone caving to her point of view. To say they were impressed would be an understatement.

"What is it that you do?" Marcus questioned, at this everyone was watching their conversation because they had seen the looks he had been giving her as she talked.

"I'm a writer," she said vaguely.

Katie noticed Rory wasn't comfortable with where the questions were going so stepped in, "Last time I saw you, you had just started a new job. How's it going?"

Rory smiled appreciatively, "I love it. My co-workers are great, and the boss isn't half bad," she said with a subtle wink. "How is school? Working you too hard yet?"

"Nope, just hard enough; although, I am working on a paper for my modern journalism class."

"What's the topic?" Rory asked interested.

"I have to pick an innovation brought to modern journalism in the past 10 years and then write 15 to 20 pages about it," Katie looked around the group and then at Rory, sending gave her a look, "Excuse me gentleman, I need to go to the restroom."

Catching her meaning Rory quickly offered, "I'll come with you."

As they walked away Rory asked, "What's up?"

"I couldn't stand watching the boys leer at you any more, and figured you didn't like it either."

"Actually, I was having fun toying with them," Rory said laughing at the face Katie made at her confession.

--

Shawn spoke as soon as the two girls were gone, "How do you know her?"

"She stopped by the _Times_ to meet someone, and we were introduced. I've run into her a handful of times since," Dan answered, following Rory's lead and remaining vague.

"She's hot," Marcus said.

"Guys…" Dan said with warning tone to his voice,

"No, I know you are married, but come on you have eyes. That girl is drop dead gorgeous," John argued, which earned him a slap on the back of his head from his girlfriend.

"I didn't say she wasn't attractive," Dan admitted, happy Katie wasn't here to hit him.

"Is she is single?" Marcus asked, eagerness in his voice.

"No," Dan said shortly.

"Is it serious?"

"They are engaged. The wedding is in December." Just as he finished speaking an announcement was made saying dinner would begin in 10 minutes.

"That's okay with me, have you met him? Do you think she would go for something on the side?" Shawn teased.

Dan decided to have some fun, "Why don't we let the ladies make the judgment about her fiancé."

"Is he here?" Marcus asked, looking around the room.

"He is," Dan said smirking, "ladies, he is the younger of the two men walking into the ballroom now."

All heads shot towards the door. Hilary was the first to recover, "That's Logan Huntzberger."

"Yes it is," he said, enjoying that he could watch their reactions.

Suddenly, Marcus started laughing, "Nice one, she's engaged to Huntzberger? Not funny…"

"I'm not joking," he exclaimed.

"Not joking about what," Katie asked as she and Rory returned.

"Nothing," said Shawn quickly, as everyone seemed more focused on Rory than before.

Rory took in the change in behavior and saw Dan holding in laughter, "You told them, didn't you? You ruin my fun," she said with a pout.

"So he wasn't lying," asked John.

"No he wasn't, the truth is out, I'm engaged to Logan," she said over dramatically pointing to her ring.

An awkward silence fell over the group.

Suddenly Rory felt arms come around her waist, "Hey, you stay out of trouble?"

"Yep, but the boys were checking me out," she said with a grin.

Logan kissed her quickly, "It's the dress," he said, glancing down to appreciate his choice.

"So where are we sitting?" Rory followed Logan's finger and saw it pointing to a table that included his parents, the Editor in Chief of the _Times_ and the paper manager, which caused Rory to groan and the others listening in on their conversation to hold in snickers.

"I wasn't going to do this, but I brought this for you," he said, pulling out his flask.

She took it slowly, opened the cap, and took a sip. When she did, her eyes widened with relief. "Finn is a god," she mumbled, took another sip, and turned to Logan looking very serious. "I've been thinking about this a lot, but you should know I decided to marry Finn instead."

"You're not a redhead," Logan said, taking a drink himself.

"But, you can't make me this wonderful mixture," Rory whined.

"You're starting to sound like him, besides he'll make it for you either way," Logan deadpanned, knowing she was joking.

"Fine, I'll keep you," she teased, and they walked to their table leaving the rest speechless as they saw their boss banter with his fiancé.

--

After dinner, in which Rory did not acknowledge or talk to Shira, Logan took Rory onto the floor for a dance.

As soon as they were on the floor, Rory saw the photographers clicking away.

"Logan," she started, trying to hide in his chest.

"I talked to my dad Ace, so relax. He said they needed to have pictures of the evening, but promised no face shots. The back of your head or side shouldn't give anything away, right?"

"No, it shouldn't, that seems fine. So what happened with your mom earlier after I left? I noticed she was avoiding looking at me as much as I was her at dinner," Rory questioned, not sure if she really wanted the answer.

"Don't worry about it," he said, holding her close to him.

"Logan," she said and began to pull back so she could look at him.

"Stay, I like you there," he whispered.

"Fine, but I think I deserve to know what happened."

Logan hesitated for a few minutes, before deciding to tell her. When he finally did, she showed no reaction.

"Anything you want to say?" he asked carefully.

"Should there be?" she replied, tying not to show how hurt she actually was.

"She said horrible things, how can you have nothing to say. You, the girl who has an opinion on everything?"

"It hurts to hear, but I'm not surprised she said it. I know that is what most of society thinks of me."

He wasn't prepared to respond to that. He couldn't take back what his mother had said and knew it wasn't a situation that would be easy to fix, if that was even possible. Logan did the only thing he could think of he kissed her head and said, "I don't think that, neither does Honor or my dad."

"Good to know," Rory replied. And it was true, it hurt to know Shira said it, but she was glad the other members of his family disagreed.

They fell into a silence while they danced, enjoying the comfort being close brought.

Logan thought back to everything that had happened that evening and decided to break the silence to ask a question, "So how long before I proposed did you decide you wanted to marry me?"

"What?" Rory asked, both surprised by his voice and the question.

"Remember our talk on the elevator? Well you seemed so calm about everything, like you've thought about these things before. And that's when I realized how quickly you answered at the cabin. Now I know deep down you wanted to marry me, but if that moment had been the first you really thought about it you would have taken longer to answer. So I ask again, when?"

"When you found out you had to go to London," she said shyly.

"That was a year and a half ago!" He said in astonishment.

"I know, but I needed to figure it out."

"Huh?" Logan asked, truly curious at how her mind worked.

"You were leaving for London Logan, and at that point, we thought it was going to be for a year. Don't think I wanted it to end or anything, but I needed to be sure you were it for me. I had to know what I wanted in order to be okay with you leaving."

Logan nodded, he understood what she meant. He had thought a lot about their relationship in the months leading up to his departure too, and while he knew he wanted to be with her and the idea of marriage had crossed his mind, he hadn't decided then.

He loosened his grip enough to look down at her. When he did he smirked and asked, "How long was the pro/con list?"

She smacked his arm, "I keep telling you don't mock my lists."

"Now, why would I do that when it clearly came out in my favor?" He asked, faking hurt.

"It wasn't that long and the winner was clear," she told him as reassurance

"Works for me," and he pulled her back to his chest.

They danced to a few more songs before fulfilling their social obligation for the night by talking to many of those in attendance. The moment they closed the limo door, Rory ripped off her heels and started rubbing her feet.

Logan glanced at her tired features and pulled her feet into his lap so he could massage them for her. When they reached their building, Rory adamantly refused to put her shoes back on, so Logan carried her on his back up to their apartment where they crashed soon after getting into more comfortable clothes.

--

_A/N: I know I always say it, but please review. For those of you who don't know what to say (I know you can only say, 'Great fic, update soon,' so many times) and don't feel bad I think the same thing when I want to review. So I'll give you a question: **What is your favorite thing about this story and what is your least favorite? AND/OR What is the thing you want to happen most and what is the thing you may attempt to hunt me down and kill if I do?**_

_I have talked out a lot of the plot with my beta, and there are certain things that I'm set on, but there are other things still being decided and hearing what you (the people who read) think would help more than you may realize! And please don't feel bad saying you don't like something, this is my first attempt at a fic and criticism is needed in order to improve._


	14. Divide His Age by 7

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter!!! I replied to some, and I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to answer you all! All of you comments both good and bad were helpful, it showed me areas on which I can now improve and continue doing what was good. Please continue to give all your reviews you have been giving I love them all, I just wanted more specific feedback. _

_Enjoy the chapter!_

--

When Rory went to work on Monday, she was in an extremely good mood. She and Logan had a fun weekend which caused her to almost forget the confrontation she had with Shira at the party. She was quickly pulled out of her good mood halfway through her morning.

"Did you see the paper?" someone asked.

"She looked good," one of the guys said.

"You couldn't see her face," a jealous sounding female replied.

"True, but her body looked absolutely amazing," he said, bending to her complaint.

"Logan looked yummy as always," one of the secretaries commented.

"I wonder what she's like," an older reporter asked.

"I heard he met her at Yale, so she's either smart or her parents made some nice donations."

"Based on her name, I'm guessing the later," someone piped in.

"Hey Ella!"

Rory heard her name being called, groaned inwardly, and replied, "Yeah?"

"You said you were on the Yale paper with Huntzberger right?"

"Yep," she said, trying to show her indifference to the conversation in her voice.

"So did you ever meet her?"

"Meet who?" Rory asked, playing dumb.

"The fiancé," he said, wanting to get to the point.

Rory thought quickly about what to say and replied with, "Sorry, I was never introduced," glancing at Bri who was barely containing her laughter.

To that someone said, "I bet they were forced together by their parents."

Rory heard another reporter comment, "I doubt they'd be dancing like that if they were forced to be together. He's holding onto her like she'll disappear if he lets go." With this, Rory stopped listening and walked away.

Rory found Bri alone near her desk. She was looking at a newspaper and asked, "Have you seen the picture?"

Rory shook her head before Bri handed her a copy of the picture. Rory saw her and Logan dancing, her face buried in the side of his neck while his eyes were closed, his head bent to cuddle hers, and his hands firmly wrapped around her hips.

"Seriously, how can that not bother you?" Bri questioned, referring to the gossip she saw was still going on.

"You know all the rumors about Logan being a playboy?"

"I've heard a few," Bri said honestly.

"They're true," Rory started.

"You mean he's cheating on you?" Bri asked, cutting Rory off in mid-sentence.

"No!" Rory yelled, drawing unwanted attention, so she whispered the next part, "they were true, before we started dating his junior year. Well, when that happened there were many disappointed girls on campus, and I was the object of their wrath. After that started, I learned very quickly how to tune people like that out."

"He was dating that many girls at once?" Bri asked, surprised her Rory would ever like a guy like that.

"Not really. I'll tell you more latter but, as Steph would say, there was _'a line'_ of girls wanting a chance at him," Rory explained with an eye roll.

"That's sad," Bri said shaking her head, "I mean, I'll admit he's cute, but that's just ridiculous!"

Rory laughed, "You don't need to tell me, but it's how it was in college."

The girls went back to work, doing their best to avoid the gossip queens of their floor.

--

Later that week, rumors at _The Observer_ surrounding Logan and his fiancé had slowed down, and for that, Rory was grateful. She was compiling her research when she heard, "Hello, do you know where I can find the lovely Miss Danes?"

The voice made Rory's head shoot up and jump out of her chair. The next thing she knew she was being lifted into the air causing her to let out a small scream, alerting everyone to her visitor's presence.

When she finally was let down she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"You don't remember Love?" Finn asked sounding hurt.

"Remember what exactly?" Rory questioned, immediately wary of Finn's behavior.

"What today is!"

"Ummm….no, should I?" She asked, just as unsure.

"It's out one year anniversary," he said in a _'duh'_ sounding voice.

At this, another photographer spoke up, "Ella, you didn't say you and your boyfriend had been together that long," trying to pry more information about Ella out of her. After all, she knew the boss and rarely spoke about herself.

Rory looked at her confused and then remembered what Finn had said, "Oh, he's not my boyfriend."

"Didn't he just say one year anniversary?" the woman asked confused.

"Yeah, but I'm just as confused as you are by that one," Rory replied glaring at Finn.

"Fine, I'll tell you. It's one year since you've become my sister, so I decided to come take you to lunch."

Rory had to smile, "That's sweet of you, but I promised Bri lunch today."

"Bri?" Finn questioned, "the one who kn-…"

He was cut of by Rory before he could continue, "Yes, that one."

"So, she can come with us," he said to convince Rory. Then, he noticed the 5'1" red head behind her and offered in her direction, "It will be fun."

Bri, hearing this part, spoke up, "It's fine, we can reschedule Ella, I don't want to intrude."

Finn saw her reluctance, "I promise I was just bored and wanted to have lunch. On the way here, I saw the date and came up with the reason to bug _Ella_ here," he said honestly.

"If you're sure," Bri questioned again. When Bri saw both Rory and her friend nod their heads, she agreed. Soon the group was seated a few blocks away at a Chinese restaurant.

"So what was that about being her brother? Rory told me she was an only child," Bri asked.

Rory jumped in first, "I am an only child, so is he."

"But we both wanted siblings so I made her my honorary sister. I'm the best big brother. I even beat up her boyfriend for having sex with her," Finn stated proudly.

Bri flinched at the image but managed to recover and look at Finn like he was nuts. Rory realized she had forgotten to introduce him, "So Finn this is Bri, and yes she knows the story. Bri this is Finn."

"So Finn, what boyfriend did you beat up?" Bri asked, wondering if it was Logan.

Rory quickly jumped in, saying, "Logan. Who just so happens to be one of his best friends."

Bri had to laugh at the crazy Aussie. Curious, she asked, "How did you two meet?"

"He's a friend of Logan so he was always around," Rory answered.

"Love, I'm hurt! You say that like I'm not your friend," Finn said over-dramatically.

"Fine," she relented, "He was a friend of Logan's whom I met when we started dating, and now he is my friend too."

"That's better!" Finn said smiling.

"Okay I have to ask," Bri asked relaxing around Finn, "why do you call her Love?"

"Yeah, why do you call me Love?" Rory echoed. It was something she had no explanation for, but never thought to ask.

"When Logan first mentioned you, when he helped you with your article, he called you Ace. Then Colin was talking and called you Ace…Well Logan yelled; apparently, only he can call you that. When he did that, I asked if he liked you, and he said no. So the next time I saw you, I called you _Love._"

Rory jumped in, just as enthralled as Bri was in the answer, "What did he say?"

Finn almost laughed at Rory's interest in this, "He was pissed, so I again asked him if he liked you. He said no, so I kept calling you Love, just to see his reaction while he was in denial. When he finally realized he liked you and made it official with you by getting rid of the gold-diggers, the name had stuck."

Bri was now laughing and asked, "What does he say about it now?"

"He laughs," Finn revealed.

Rory shook her head, "He doesn't worry we're going to elope in Vegas?"

"Apparently you're not my type," Finn confessed.

"Aw Finn, I'm hurt! Aren't I pretty?" Rory teased with a pout.

"Love you're beautiful, but as Logan keeps pointing out: Not a redhead."

Bri looked between the two friends, "Should I be worried?"

Finn glanced at her, taking in her deep auburn hair and sighed.

Rory spoke before he could, "No, Finn just normally goes for redheads."

Bri smiled and asked, "And why is that?"

"Because doll, I'm exotic and therefore the girl destined for me will be exotic too," Finn explained while waving his arms.

Bri wasn't sure about the connection yet, "How does that translate to redheads? Why not an Aussie girl?"

"An Aussie isn't exotic to me," Finn said seriously.

"Fine, why not an Italian of French girl?" Bri asked.

"I'm an equal opportunity dater. I do not discriminate based on ethnicity."

"But you discriminate based on hair color?"

Finn was becoming frustrated, "But red is the exotic color!" he exclaimed.

Rory liked that Bri was handling Finn so well; he tended to overwhelm a lot of people at first.

"Does that mean you think I'm exotic," Bri asked in a seductive voice, while twirling a curly red lock in her finger and eyed him over.

Finn was speechless. Rory was holding in her laughter and watched as Finn grasped for words. "Well redheads in general yes…" he said sounding unsure.

Bri just started laughing, which caused Rory to burst out as well. Finn pouted, "Why are you laughing at me?"

Rory got herself under control first, "Finn, the look on your face was priceless."

"Yeah," Bri added, "I was just teasing to see what your reaction would be. I must say it was better than expected."

Finn crossed his arms, pretending to sulk and said, "That's not nice."

This sent the girls into another fit of laughter. Rory calmed down enough to say, "Bri you just helped prove the theory the rest of us have on why Finn likes redheads. I can't wait to tell everyone!"

"And what is that?" Bri asked, curious about a different explanation.

"Redheads are the only girls who can put up with him."

Finn smiled again, "They are feisty!"

Bri rolled her eyes, but before she could retort Finn said, "Enough about me. I have a very important question for you, and it will determine if you are a person I can be friends with."

"So, no pressure," Bri joked.

"This is not a joking matter doll. I need you to be serious."

"Okay, being serious," Bri said, barely able to keep a straight face.

"Good now, what is your favorite beer?"

Rory started laughing again while Bri was debating her answer. After a few moments, she said, "Foster's?"

"Is that a question or your answer?" Finn said, noticing how unsure she sounded.

"My answer," hoping it passed his inspection.

Finn started to grin, "Excellent choice!"

Lunch continued with easy conversation between the three. Eventually, Rory and Bri couldn't put off returning to work and said goodbye to Finn, but promised to have lunch again the next week. Rory gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. Bri wasn't sure what to do, but before the moment became too awkward, Finn gave her a quick hug. The sight of this made Rory giggle because of their height difference, but Rory was glad to know the two had gotten along well.

As they walked back to work, Bri said, "He seemed nice."

"He is nice," Rory said smiling.

"Is he a good friend?"

Rory wasn't sure how to explain Finn, "Finn is one of the most loyal people I know. A lot of people who don't know him well think he is always drunk and joking around, but those of us who know him know he also can serious if the situation calls for it. Really being both is what makes him great; he can be someone to talk to or cheer you up."

"Well, I'm glad I got to meet him," Bri said truthfully.

"And I'm glad he didn't profess his love for you on the spot," Rory teased.

"He really is into redheads that much?"

"He was. In college, he would declare his love to half the redheads he met. Now, I think he still has a thing for them, but doesn't casually date the way he did in college."

The girls reached the doors of _The Observer_ and returned to their desks to finish out the day.

--

The next week, Finn came to the paper to take Rory and Bri out to lunch twice. They all enjoyed their lunches, discussing everything from work to college to music and movies. On Thursday, Lorelai called Rory saying she was coming on Saturday to help pick out the wedding dress. Rory then called Bri and Steph, asking them to come along too, to which both agreed.

--

The four girls met at a café to grab coffee and a quick bite to eat before heading to Vera Wang.

Rory saw Bri standing out front, gave her a quick hello, and then brought her inside to meet her mother and Steph.

"Bri, I'd like you to meet Lorelai and Steph. Mom, Steph meet Bri." Everyone gave a greeting, before diving into girl chat.

Steph talked about the bridesmaid dress they found last time at Vera Wang. Lorelai started talking about possible shoes and whether they should be navy blue or silver. Bri sat back, taking it all in at first, before joining in and giving her opinion.

Soon the group found their way to the boutique and was escorted to the back showroom. Bri was a bit surprised by the treatment from the staff, until she reminded herself that Rory was marrying a Huntzberger. When she saw how people were treating her, she understood even more why she had taken a pen name at work, but then she saw that regardless of how people were acting towards her, she was still Rory. She was thinking this while Rory had gone into the changing room, and it made her feel out of place for a few minutes before relaxing and enjoying her afternoon.

"Okay," Rory yelled, "I'm coming out now.

Rory exited the dressing room in an ivory strapless A-line dress with a train that extended past the bottom of the dress by about 3 feet. The dress was satin and had a very small amount of lace overlay along the top of the bodice with some beading to add a shimmer to the dress making Rory look like a princess since the beads were all small diamonds and pearls – the waist line also had the same lace overlay without the beading.

Before anyone spoke, Rory said, "Don't say anything yet. No comments until you see both dresses!" All three girls remained silent, watching as Rory slowly turned. After the girls were done looking, she returned to the dressing room and changed.

The second dress was cut identically to the first, but was white. This dress, however, had a much more prevalent Chantilly lace overlay over the entire top half of the dress along with a much more noticeable beading of crystals. The train on this dress was much longer – almost 6 feet. There was some bead work and lace on the skirt and then along the bottom hem. Rory repeated the turn and then asked, "So?"

"Do you want to know what we think or which one we pick?" Lorelai asked.

"Both, I mean I don't want to settle. If you really don't like either dress, I will keep looking but if you like one then I'll talk to the sales woman."

"Okay, how about on the count of 3 we all hold up either 1 or 2 fingers if you like one of the dresses or a fist if you think Rory should keep looking."

"Sounds good," Rory said almost nervous at how this would go, "One, two, three."

Rory looked around and all of them, including herself, was holding up one finger.

"Looks like we all agreed," Rory said happily. "Is there anything we don't like? I know small changes are possible."

Bri spoke up, "Why don't you put it back on, and we can look closer at it."

A few minutes later, Rory reappeared and her three helpers started looking it over much closer.

"Okay Rory, I love the dress," Lorelai started, "I mean the ivory looks great on you, and the cut fits you well, and I love the detailing, but it just seems like something is missing."

Rory nodded, "I know, I think it's why I wasn't completely sure the first time. But what is it?"

The minutes ticked away, and no one was figuring it out. Finally, Steph said, "I figured it out!"

"What?" they all asked, wanting to know.

"The back and bottom are too plain. There is nothing along the bottom hem to give texture or definition," Steph said pointing to that area.

"What if the pattern they used on the waistline was also put along the entire bottom hem," Bri suggested.

Steph then added, "Maybe even add some gemstones that they use at the top of the bodice along the entire skirt of the dress. It would make the bottom sparkle without having the lace overlay. It keeps it simple but really would add a lot to the overall princess quality of the dress."

The other girls stared at Steph as she talked and then turned to Rory trying to visualize what Steph had just described. Rory was the first to speak, "Perfect!"

Rory went back in and changed while Steph went to hunt down the sales woman. When Rory came out, she discussed the changes to the design and was told that Vera herself would oversee the changes. Rory was, after all, a very important bride who would have her picture in newspapers all over the world. They discussed the added price for the additions, and then her measurements were taken. They were told a sketch with her requested changes to the design would be sent to her in 4-6 weeks, and the dress itself would be ready for a fitting in late September to early October. Rory was also assured that her dress, with the changes (without them it was a rack dress and not a special order), would never be sold by Vera.

When they left the store, the girls said their goodbyes and parted, with Lorelai going with Rory. She was having dinner with Rory and Logan and spending the night so she wouldn't have to drive late.

--

Over the next few weeks, Rory, Bri, and Finn had lunch 2 more times. It was now almost mid-July. After work, Rory and Bri were meeting Logan, who was coming from the _Times_, and Finn for dinner. Then, they were meeting up with Colin and Steph for drinks after dinner. This had been Finn's idea since Bri had mentioned at one lunch that she hadn't had a chance to socialize with Logan much since the night at his apartment and had yet to meet Colin. Because it had been Finn's idea, Rory said he should come along, and it would also keep it from being weird with only the three.

They had arrived, had a drink, and now their food had just arrived. All the while, the four maintained a relaxing conversation they were all enjoying.

"So Bri, I must commend you," Logan said.

"For what?" Bri asked, hoping this wouldn't turn into a work conversation.

"Putting up with Finn. Not many people adjust to it that easily," Logan said, glancing over to his friend.

"Can you not talk about me as if I weren't here?" Finn whined.

"Well three and a half year olds are my expertise," Bri said, ignoring Finn and trying not to laugh as she caught Rory's eye.

"How am I 3 ½?" Finn demanded.

"I have a theory," Bri said.

"Oh please share, this I have to hear," Rory teased.

"Well you know how people always talk about doggy years? You know multiply their age by 7 and all."

"Yep," Rory said cheerfully as the boys nodded slowly.

"I figure men's maturity is like the opposite. You take their age and divide by 7," Bri managed to get out with a straight face. Rory started laughing and nodding in agreement.

"I resent that, I do not act 3," Logan argued.

"First, it's rule of thumb, not an exact science. Second, it is more for when a group of guys get together, not how you behave at work or in public."

At this, Finn and Logan seemed to think about it. Eventually Finn said, "That's not nice doll."

"Live with it," she replied without missing a beat.

Finn stuck his tongue out at her, causing her to say, "You're just helping me prove my point."

The conversation continued as they ate. When they finished Logan said, "So Colin and Steph should be here for drinks soon."

"I liked Steph, that girl knows how to shop," Bri said truthfully.

"Not another one," Logan groaned.

"What does that mean?" Rory asked.

"Just that you and Steph are bad enough as it is. You really don't need to add another one of you to the shopping spree," Logan explained.

Rory's phone rang, saving her from responding.

"Hello."

"Rory!" Lane yelled.

"Lane? Where are you? I can barely hear you," Rory asked, confused by all the background noise.

"We won!" Lane said screaming.

"Won what?"

"The battle of the bands!"

"Are you serious? That's amazing!" Rory said, extremely happy for her friend.

"I know! So now we get to give a concert at that club. It's an hour and a half show, and we go on this Friday at 9."

"How excited is Zach?" Rory questioned.

"Oh all the boys are freaking out….almost as bad as me," Lane said laughing.

"So how do I get tickets?" Rory wondered, changing the subject.

"Rory you don't have to come, I know you're busy."

"Lane, I'm not missing this! Just tell me how to get tickets."

"We get some tickets, just call me back when you know how many you need!"

"Okay Lane, now I'm going to let you get back to your celebration," Rory said, smiling at how happy Lane was.

"Bye Rory!" Lane said.

"Bye Lane," Rory could hear Lane yelling to Brian before she hung up.

"What was that?" Logan asked.

"Lane had some very exciting news."

"What about Lane?" Steph's voice asked from behind them.

The group turned to see Colin and Steph pulling up seats. Logan decided to make the last introduction, "Bri meet Colin. Colin, this is Brianna."

"Hey," Colin said, offering a hand.

"Hi, I've heard some stories about you."

"Really? From who?" Colin questioned, nervous about what was said.

"All of them, but don't worry, it was nothing too bad."

"So what is this about Lane?" Steph asked, repeating her question from earlier.

"Hep Alien won a battle of the bands contest. The prize is a Friday night show at the same club that housed the contest. They get to play an hour and a half set. She has been freaking out about this for weeks. I'm glad it went so well."

Logan noticed the look on Rory's face and remembered her conversation, "So, how do we get tickets?"

Rory looked at him surprised that he wanted to go. She always thought he just agreed to go to the concerts because she was going. She replied, "I call Lane and tell her how many I need. So is everyone coming?" she asked, glancing around the table. She saw everyone give a nod except Bri.

"Bri, I told you about Lane right? My friend from Stars Hallow," Rory offered, knowing she had mentioned Lane in some way or another.

"Yeah," Bri confirmed.

"So don't you want to come?" Rory noticed the apprehension of Bri's face, "Come on, we need someone to look after Finn."

Bri laughed, "He shouldn't need a babysitter."

"You're the one who said I was 3 ½," he pouted.

After a few moments, Bri finally agreed to come. When she did, Rory saw a smile cross Finn's face. A smile she wasn't sure she had seen before and wondered what it meant. She looked over and noticed that Logan looked shocked at Finn's expression also. She would have to ask him about it later.

--

_A/N: Please read and review!_


	15. Did You See His Face?

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls _

_A/N: Hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks to some fellow writers for sharing how to get around the problem of ff right now. For those of you who haven't seen my profile I have been trying to post since Tuesday. There is also a message there about a short delay on 16. I'm going out of town tomorrow for a few days and won't have a computer. Sorry for the delay and hope you enjoy the chapter!_

--

Rory was excited Bri was coming with them to see Hep Alien, but was still trying to figure out what was going on with Finn earlier. Finn was always hard to read: She wondered if it was because he was always laughing around and joking where his expressions would change based on the situations so you could never tell if he was really feeling that emotion or not. Rory generally could pick up on other's emotions – it was crucial in her profession. But, even after knowing Finn two and a half years now, she still could not read his expressions. And the one she had seen that evening, she had never seen before. It made her wonder if there were more to Finn and Bri than what there appeared to be.

She and Logan had been home for a couple of hours and were now lying in bed.

"Hey Logan," she whispered.

"I'm awake Ace," he said with his eyes still closed.

"Did you see Finn's face today when Bri agreed to come to the concert with us?" she asked, voicing the question on her mind.

"Yeah, why?" he wondered what she was thinking.

"He looked like a kid on Christmas. I mean Finn's a happy guy, but it seemed different."

"So you think this means what exactly?" Logan questioned, not wanting to give anything away.

"That Finn likes Bri," Rory sighed.

Noticing her tone, he asked, "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not if he really likes her! But, if she's just another redhead to add to his count then yes, it's bad! We've become good friends over the past few weeks, and I don't want it to become awkward again. She's the only person at work I like talking to."

"So you'd be against them dating?" Logan pushed, wanting clarity.

"Dating, no. Finn having a one night stand with her, yes."

"Oh come on, you know he doesn't do that anymore," he argued.

"Old habits die hard Huntzberger," Rory bit back, wanting to protect her new friend from being hurt.

'After how we started, she of all people should know guys can change,' Logan thought to himself and decided that he had to say something, "Do you think I had a hard time giving up other girls when I met you?"

"I'm sure there were moments you wished you hadn't given them up," Rory replied. She knew they were good now, but was sure he had second thoughts when they had first become a couple.

"No." he stated firmly, "Rory, I never looked back."

"What about when all those girls threw themselves at you?"

"I've never given them a second thought," he said honestly, holding her eyes. Rory gasped in shock at what Logan said and what she saw in his eyes, pure truth.

Recovering, she quickly teased, "Even all the secretaries, I mean the conversation would be stimulating."

"Oh I can imagine," Logan said sarcastically before turning serious, "I love you Ace."

Rory leaned up and kissed him and then said, "Love you too. Now, I indulged in your pathetic attempt of a distraction, so back to Finn. What do you know?"

"I don't know anything," he said quickly.

"You're a horrible liar."

"You can't say anything to Finn, he was really worked up about it when I talked to him today on the phone."

"Okay, now explain," Rory demanded.

"He likes Bri," Logan stated as if it were a secret.

"That's what I said!" Rory exclaimed.

"No, you seem to think he's just trying to get her into bed," he reminded her.

"He isn't?"

"You've watched Finn pick up girls all the time in college, would you say that's what he has been doing with Bri?"

"No," Rory relented, feeling bad for being skeptical of Finn.

"Exactly because he only started to like her after all those lunches you three had. Plus, he would never do that to _you_."

"ME?" Rory screeched, wondering how she was involved in this conversation.

Logan sighed. His fiancé sure was clueless sometimes, but he wouldn't want his Ace any different. He looked at her in amusement before replying, "Ace, think about it. Finn is your friend and knows that Bri is the ONLY person you have confided your identity to at work. He'd never just be interested in her so he could sleep with her because it would put you in an awkward place. In fact, that's why he's completely crazy trying to decide what to do. Why else do you think none of us ever had female friends in college? That way their friends couldn't be off limits."

"That's sick and you don't need to get so defensive."

"Sorry, it's just I know how he feels," Logan tried to explain.

"How so?"

"Because I think he's going through now what I went through when I first met you. Believe me, I love you Ace and all the torture was worth it because it got me you, but I never want to go through that again."

"So basically, what you're saying is Finn's going to call her, give her a nickname only he can use, yell at anyone who tries to use it, and then you will start calling her love to watch him squirm?"

Logan glared at her, "No, we're all different. And besides would you really want anyone calling you Ace?"

Rory tried to imagine the name coming from anyone else and shook her head. "So was Logan scared of the pretty girl?" she teased in a baby voice.

"Downright terrified," he quickly relented. At this, Rory snickered not seeing how she could be viewed as scary by any stretch of the imagination.

"Don't mock! You laugh, but for a group of guys who didn't do relationships we sure knew how to pick 'em." At Rory's confused face, Logan continued, "Think about it, I fell for you. And let's face it, I started falling for you that day you cornered me about the Life & Death Brigade. It took me a long time to acknowledge that, but I eventually did. Colin fell for Steph much more quickly, but they had known each other forever. We all secretly thought that they were in love and just didn't realize it, but once they did, they were a couple fairly quickly by our standards. Now, it seems Finn may, with time, fall for Bri. I mean he's acting the same way both Colin and I did when we first started to have feelings for you and Steph. And you three are definitely a handful."

"In Omnia Paratus right?"

"How is that relevant?"

"Ready for anything. You guys like a challenge, so why would you be happy with a girl who couldn't challenge you? With someone who just let you dictate everything, you would be bored. That's why none of you will ever be happy with a trophy wife."

"Never thought of it like that," Logan realized.

"I'm a genius, I know," Rory cheered.

"Look at whose cocky now!"

"So Finn really likes her huh?"

"Yes, but he's afraid to ask her out on a date. Doesn't know if she would say yes," Logan explained.

"I could talk to her," Rory offered.

"No," Logan said while shaking his head, "you aren't supposed to tell anyone what I said, remember? Finn told me I couldn't even tell you until he realized that would be like asking you to keep something from Lorelai."

"Yes, but I asked you if he liked her first. So I can mention it to Bri and see what she says."

"No match making, you've been banned," he said, not wavering from his stance.

"How come?"

"Look at what happened last time!"

"What? Colin and Steph were just in denial. You said it yourself."

"Yeah, and you were so blunt and said things Colin wasn't ready to hear, making it worse; it almost kept him from ever making a move."

"But it worked out," she whined.

"Yes, but please stay out of this one."

"Okay," she said with a shoulder shrug.

"Can you pretend like you might listen to me?" he said looking down at her.

Rory just curled up into his side ready to fall asleep.

"Hey Ace," he was met with silence, "this doesn't have to do with Finn."

"Okay, what's up?"

"Just wanted to tell you I'm coming to _The Observer_ tomorrow."

"What for?"

"I'm sitting in on staff meeting with certain sections," he explained.

"So will I even see you?"

"Yep I'm meeting with the entertainment staff just after lunch, which if I remember correctly is on your floor."

"Thanks for the warning, goodnight."

"Goodnight, baby" he said kissing her head.

--

The next day at work, Rory wanted to talk to Bri about Finn but had a hard time determining how to approach her on the subject. The two girls had talked a lot about their lives, but Rory realized that other than knowing she was currently single and the passing mention of an ex, she was clueless about any past relationships. Rory was busy doing background research for her article and hadn't had much of an opportunity so far. Just before lunch, she saw Bri was going to head down to the darkroom and knew it was usually empty so she decided to take her chance approaching the subject.

"Hey Bri, can I go down with you?"

"Sure, but why? It smells awful in there"

"Well developer or not, I wanted to ask you something," Rory said honestly.

"Okay, let's go," Bri said motioning to the elevator. They found the room empty, entered, and locked the door. Rory waited while Bri started the process. When Bri set the timer, Rory finally spoke, "You're single right?"

Bri laughed, "You know very well that I'm single."

"So are you interested in dating anyone?"

Bri shook her head and eyed her friend, "Rory you don't do subtle well. What are you trying to ask?"

"I think Finn likes you," she mumbled quickly.

"Finn? The crazy Australian?" Bri asked shocked.

"Do you actually know multiple guys named Finn?" Rory asked sarcastically.

"No, I guess you have a point," Bri replied. The timer went off so Bri quickly removed the photographs and hung them to dry.

"So?" Rory said waiting for an answer.

"Finn's a great guy," she stated.

"So you like him too?" Rory asked sounding hopeful.

"I'm not looking to date anyone right now," Bri said simply.

"Why not?"

"I haven't had the best luck with guys. And I'm not saying Finn would be like them, but I've told you how hectic my life is right now. I don't need to add dating into the mix."

"Bri," Rory said quieter, "you didn't answer my question."

"Which was?" Bri said, hoping Rory would drop it.

"Do you like Finn?" Rory exclaimed.

Bri looked Rory in the eye, starting to show emotion about the subject, then took down the prints, and left the room. Rory stood stunned, trying to decide what she should say to Bri. When she collected her thoughts, she exited the room and headed back to her desk.

Rory saw how sad Bri looked and realized that asking about Finn may not have been the best idea. She just wanted her friends to be happy and didn't realize how hurt Bri had obviously been in the past. When Rory saw Bri, she walked over and quietly said, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's not your fault," Bri said, her voice waving as if she were trying to hold back tears.

"But if I hadn't kept asking…" Rory offered. She felt even worse than she did before when she heard Bri's voice and saw the utter devastation in her eyes.

"I would still be emotional, just alone instead of in front of you."

"What does that mean?" Rory asked, becoming more concerned about her friend.

"It means that I've been on 3 dates with 3 different guys over the last 2 years. None of them went well. They ask about my life, so I tell them, and then there aren't second dates. I mean I can see in their eyes the exact moment they loose interest in me, and I can't do that anymore. It kills me inside. I've just accepted that this isn't the time for me to find a guy."

"So you gave up?" Rory asked wanting clarification.

"More like going on a dating hiatus. I don't have the energy to get through weird first dates with a guy when I know from the start it isn't going to work out. And even if I did, I have no idea where I should go to meet a guy."

"Fair enough," Rory supplied, seeing how emotional Bri was getting just talking about it. She looked like she was on the verge of tears yet again: This time it seemed more because she was resigned to her fate of never having someone to love. Before it seemed more from past demons and missed opportunities. Rory felt horrible for her friend, knowing how lonely her life would be without Logan. She wasn't sure what to say next, so she went with her first thought, "I'm sorry for mentioning Finn. Is it going to make things weird with him now?"

"Does he know you're asking me this?"

Rory let out a small laugh, "Well, no."

"So don't tell him," Bri said simply.

"What if he asks you out?" Rory pushed, she needed to be realistic.

"Then I'll figure out how to handle it then," Bri stated. Rory sighed not knowing what to do. According to Logan, it seemed that Finn only needed to gain his courage before asking Bri out. Rory just hoped that Bri wouldn't crush Finn. But, she would support Bri's decision and try to help however possible.

Suddenly, Rory remembered that both Bri and Finn would be at the Hep Alien concert and hoped that her conversation with Bri wouldn't make it uncomfortable for her. She voiced her concern, questioning, "What about the concert?"

"Not sure how that relates."

"I just want you to have fun, I know you could use it."

"Thanks for the concern, but I'm sure I will." Rory stood there trying to read Bri better when she sighed, "I'm fine. It's just a subject I like to avoid."

Rory smiled, accepting that Bri was more or less fine. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for Rory to push the subject more, especially when she knew that she couldn't handle both her friend being upset with her and her fiancé in the office at the same time. So, she decided to leave the subject alone and hopefully Bri would open up more in the future. After deciding that she couldn't do anything else to help Bri, she returned to her desk to get back to her assignment.

She began researching her next article about an uproar caused by students and parents when a local teacher was fired. She was so wrapped up that lunch came all too quickly. She knew Logan would be there soon and was torn between wanting to see him and frustration because she couldn't approach him. Rory caught his eye as he passed by her desk and headed into his meeting.

Bri caught the exchange and whispered, "Those looks you're giving him aren't going to help maintain your cover."

"Did anyone else see?" Rory asked blushing.

"No, but they might if you keep it up," Bri said teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah," Rory said going back to work.

--

Logan couldn't help but look at Rory as he passed. He also saw Bri and knew Rory was glad to have her to talk to. He proceeded to the back half of the floor that the entertainment staff occupied. He first saw the editor and told him his plan was to observe the staff meeting then talk to writers about different tactics they could use individually where he saw fit.

Logan sat in the back of the conference room, hoping to gain minimal attention. As the staff gathered, he knew they had all taken notice of him, but thankfully didn't mention it. Ten minutes later the meeting started with the editor giving feedback for the previous week's article. He gave each writer both a brief critique of the angle of the article and what type of reader response it received. There was also more critiques made throughout the editing process, but they were not discussed in the full meeting.

Logan was impressed by this approach. Many editors didn't bring in the reader response to their evaluation of an article. It was overlooked, but Logan felt it was one of the truest indicators a writer could get. As much as an article should be factually and grammatically correct, catching the interest of the readers still needed to be achieved. Still, many editors only looked at the technical side of the profession.

Logan also felt that the entertainment section allowed for more creativity and personal opinions when presenting the information. This meant perfecting a writer's style to appeal to the readership was a key element, and something he would be talking about with some staff members.

Next, each writer gave a short description of the article(s) they were working on and any problems they were having. Logan liked this approach; it allowed the more experienced writers to give suggestions to the newer staff. Although many editors encouraged some mentorship, this approach catalyzed it.

As the meeting continued, Logan remained an observer, not wanting to interfere at this point with how the editor ran his staff. He was achieving this well until Jacob, a younger, started talking.

"How was your interview last night," The editor asked.

"I didn't get one," Jacob admitted, somewhat embarrassed.

"Why not?"

"Their manager refused to let any press to talk to them. Said we'd have to call and schedule an interview."

At this, the editor seemed to calm down, "So when is your interview?"

"Well I called and didn't get one."

"This event had been heavily publicized by the club hoping to become a spot to feature up and coming bands. We can't be the only paper without coverage."

"I was worried about the same thing, but from what I've heard, no one has been able to secure an interview."

"So what do you have on the band?"

"The band's name is Hep Alien, has 4 members, and is originally from Connecticut."

This information caused Logan to start laughing to himself. This caused the editor to shoot him a look and then ask Jacob, "Anything else?"

"Their music is excellent," Jacob replied. He had been pleasantly surprised by the band was looking forward to hear them play a full set.

The editor noticed that Logan still seemed amused by the turn of events, "Mr. Huntzberger anything to add?"

"Not right now; however, Jacob if you could meet me after the meeting."

"Yes, sir," he replied, worried about what his boss wanted.

"Okay, moving on…" The editor continued. The meeting lasted another 45 minutes before it broke.

Logan approached Jacob and the editor and said, "Jacob, I have a quick phone call to make before we continue." Jacob nodded, so Logan turned to the editor, "May I use your office to make my call and talk to Jacob?"

"Of course sir," and gestured him in the proper direction. Once he entered, Logan closed the door and dialed Rory's work phone.

"Ella Danes," her voice greeted.

"Hey Ace," Logan replied.

"What can I do for you?"

"I need a favor," he said slowly.

"You're making me nervous," she replied, wondering what he could possible be up to.

"Do you know Jacob?" he questioned.

"Kind of, I've talked to him a few times in the break room, why?" Rory asked, trying to find a connection.

"He's covering Hep Alien's concert."

"I didn't realize it was that big of a deal," Rory said, surprised by this information.

"Apparently this has been a widely promoted event so all the papers are looking to do a write up about the band and a review of the concert," Logan explained

"That could be huge for them!" Rory exclaimed, and then asked, "So where does the favor come in?"

"Well I don't know if favor is the right word," Logan said, rethinking his choice of words.

"Out with it," She demanded.

"First Mrs. Kim, their pseudo manager, won't let any press near them so as of now there will be no article. It will probably be just a short review now."

"That's bad," Rory said disappointed. Getting an article about the band would draw much more attention than a short concert review.

"Yes, but if I help Jacob get an interview then it will essentially be an exclusive," Logan explained.

"And that's good for the paper," Rory said, her work mindset taking over.

"You're good at this game," Logan praised, glad that Rory saw that side of the situation.

"Still not seeing the problem…"

"Typically press goes backstage before the concert and then is in the crowd during it."

"Okay…" Rory said seeing where this was going.

"And we were planning on going to the concert and if I know you, we'll be backstage too," Logan reminded her, hoping she would see the issue.

"So he'll see us…but I have to go! Lane freaks out before she goes on," Rory pointed out.

"Glad to see you've caught up. Now before you completely flip out, I have a plan, will you listen?" He asked, trying to head off her rant.

"And me agreeing to the plan is the favor," she realized out loud.

"You know me too well," he teased back as he began laying out his plan.

"This is crazy, are you sure it isn't too much work?"

"It's fine, plus this plan has been Gilmore tested." Without letting her interrupt, he continued, "Think your article for the LDB, but less cryptic."

"I need a few more details," Rory stated. Blindfolds and kidnapping were not key aspects of the modern journalism world.

"Before I get him the interview, he'll have to agree to confidentiality regarding anything beyond the interview and review of the performance. Also the article will have to be approved by me."

"Logan, that's great but you can't enforce it," Rory sighed into the phone.

"I wasn't finished. After securing the interview, but before it takes place, he will have to sign a legal agreement stating what I've said. It will also say that the confidentiality applies to statements in his article as well as his verbal comments, meaning he can't leak it to the office or other news sources. If he breaks this agreement, depending on the severity, it could result in his job termination."

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"

"No. It's not just about you. Colin, Finn, Steph, and I have big last names. We also plan on enjoying ourselves at the concert, I don't want him including our behavior or any personal information he may overhear. And if it makes you feel any better I'm including a salary bonus for his efforts."

Rory thought about what he said and saw his concerns, "It does. But if you're so worried then why agree to help him with the article or why do we all have to go to the concert?"

"Rory we are going. I'm not letting you miss what may turn out to be their big break and the rest of us don't want to either. Personally, I want to help with the article because I think this kid has talent and could go far. Professionally, if this concert does go well, we have the exclusive; we could sell the article to other papers while also being the first to break the story. That's not an opportunity we can just pass on."

"Is this really that big?"

"From what they said in the meeting, this is the largest venue and longest set being given to a virtually unknown band. If it goes well consider them discovered, so yes a first look article at the band will be huge."

"You really think your plan will work?" she asked.

"I'll see how he reacts and it's not like I'm going to come out and tell him. There is a chance you won't cross paths at the concert.

"I guess you're right," she relented. Rory knew that Logan had all of his bases covered, but she wasn't ready for everyone at work to know. Maybe it was how much they gossiped about Logan's fiancé or just that she was still becoming comfortable with them, but most likely a combination. She had talked to Jacob a few times and hoped he would prove to be trustworthy, from what she had seen she had no reason to doubt it.

"Can I have Lane's number?" He asked, remembering the other reason for his call.

"860-555-4917, but shouldn't you call Mrs. Kim if she is their manager?"

"She hates me, I made you live in sin remember? Me, the evil male coerced you, the innocent, pure female into living with me before marriage…" He said, honing his last conversation with the older women.

"But she should come around if you tell her we are engaged," Rory offered.

"Maybe, but last time I saw her she told me if we ever got married not to worry because, like Lane and Zach, we will only have to have sex once. Now I hate to break it to you, but that went out the window our first night together."

Rory started blushing, "Fine point taken, but you will have to see her again at some point."

"I know, so are you okay with this?" Logan asked, wanting to make sure she wasn't going to freak out at a later time.

"I'm fine, I promise," Rory said. She knew that it couldn't stay a secret forever, but hoped that this wouldn't force the truth out.

"I'll make it up to you tonight," Logan said, with a hint of mischief in his voice.

"Bye Mac," Rory said.

"Bye Ace." Logan hung up his phone and exited the office. He found Jacob standing nervously by his desk.

"Jacob," Logan said, gaining the man's attention and gesturing to the office. Jacob seemed to catch his meaning and walked in the office. Logan followed and shut the door behind them ensuring privacy.

"You look nervous," Logan said, hoping to find a way to relax the situation.

"I am," Jacob replied, not sure what his boss expected.

"I was hoping to talk to you about your article," Logan supplied.

"If I don't get an interview, won't be much of an article," Jacob admitted, frustrated by his latest assignment.

"True, which is why I was planning on helping you with it."

"How sir? I don't think she will be easily swayed."

"I wasn't going to call Mrs. Kim, but before we continue I need to make sure we have an understanding." Logan proceeded to explain the conditions of the agreement.

Jacob looked hesitant at first so Logan added, "The reason for this is I will be at the concert."

"Excuse me?" Jacob said, not sure if he heard correctly.

"I said I would be at the concert. This agreement isn't meant to interfere with your article, but I do want to protect my privacy and that of my friends and fiancé who will also be there. That means any information you learn about any of us that evening will have to be kept to yourself. Not to be included in your article or even passed onto coworkers or friends."

Jacob wasn't sure what his boss thought he might find out, but didn't think it was too much to ask and he did need the interview. "Of course Mr. Huntzberger, those terms sound fair."

Logan gave a nod, "Excellent, now onto getting you that interview. And remember the confidentiality begins now." He picked up the phone, put it on speaker and dialed the number Rory gave him.

A mumbled greeting was heard he couldn't make out. Logan had to assume it was Lane and said, "Your mother is insane."

"What?" a much clearer male voice said.

"Zach?" Logan guessed.

"Yeah, who is this?"

"It's Logan and let me change that, you're mother-in-law is insane."

"Yeah well, your future mother-in-law is insane," Zach retorted.

"True, but I would take her crazy over yours everyday of the week," Logan said and it was the truth. Lorelai was crazy the way Finn was which he learned to handle long ago; Mrs. Kim was an entirely different story.

"Yeah, me too. So what do you need?"

"Is Lane there?"

"Yeah, hold on she just walked in." Shuffling and Zach telling Lane who was on the phone could be heard over the line.

Eventually a winded, "Hey Logan," came over the line.

"Hey Lane, your mother is insane," he tried again.

"You're preaching to the choir, but what motivated you to call me with this information?" she questioned.

"She won't give anyone an interview with Hep Alien," Logan said.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, but that's why I'm calling. I have a reporter who was supposed to be covering the show and is going nuts trying to secure an interview."

"So you we re hoping I could fix that," she guessed.

"Correct. So what do you say? I promise I will be giving final approval," he added knowing Lane would agree.

"When would it be?" Logan glanced at Jacob who shrugged his shoulders.

"How about Friday before the show."

"Sounds good, I'm assuming the rest of you will still be coming?" Lane asked. She was looking forward to having some supporters in the audience.

"We wouldn't miss it, and you'll take care of Mrs. Kim?" Logan asked.

"I guess. Bye Logan," Lane said happily.

"Bye Lane," Logan said hanging up the phone. He looked at Jacob and said, "So Friday before the show."

"I'll be there, but are you sure she can get the interview?" Jacob asked, he hadn't been convinced this would work from what he heard.

Logan remembered the little information Jacob had on the band and realized he would need to fill in some blanks. "Lane is Mrs. Kim's daughter, but is also the drummer for the band, so yes I would consider the interview booked."

"That was the drummer?" Jacob asked surprised, he had remembered seeing a small Asian girl on the drums.

"Yes and Zach who answered the phone is her husband and lead singer. Brian, who used to live with them, plays bass and Gil is lead guitar."

"So you know their music?" Jacob asked, he never would have guessed Logan would know, let alone like, this band.

"Yes, I've also been to more than one of their shows," Logan answered. He could only imagine what Jacob was thinking.

Logan and Jacob talked a few more minutes to work out the details for the interview. It was decided that Logan and Jacob would meet at the club, at which time Jacob would sign the confidentiality agreement, before they would head to the interview. While the interview would be conducted solely by Jacob, Logan wanted to be there to make sure it all ran smoothly.

--

When Logan arrived home he found Rory already changed into sweats and setting out the take out Italian she had ordered. He saw her look up at him and smile, which he returned before giving her a quick kiss and heading into their room to change.

When he came back Rory said, "Lane is very excited about the interview."

"I'm glad, I think it will turn out well."

"Do you think Jacob will hold his end of the agreement?" Rory questioned as they both took a plate to the couch.

"I think he's confused at what I'm worried about him seeing, but also understands I'm just trying to protect my privacy," Logan answered, sharing the impression he had based on their short conversation.

"Logan, if you are okay with this then I won't worry about it," Rory said. In truth, she had been worried about ever since his call. She had pulled Bri aside and relayed the conversation. It had been then that she accepted that Logan was doing what he thought was best and wouldn't do anything to compromise her position.

After talking more about their day and finishing dinner, Logan sat down to watch a baseball game, and Rory curled up next to him with a book. The game ended, and Logan noticed Rory was starting to nod off next to him.

"Ace, you can't fall asleep yet," Logan whispered in her ear.

"Why not?" Rory asked, burying her head into his chest.

"I promised I'd make it up to you tonight, and I haven't yet," he explained.

"And what is my reward," she asked skeptically.

"You'll see," he said with a wink before pulling her off the couch.

When they made it into their room, Rory fell onto the bed and looked up at Logan. He had stripped down to his boxers and climbed on the bed next to her. He sat there for a few moments just playing with her hair before leaning down and kissing her. Slowly, the kiss grew more intense, and Logan's hand slid under her tank top. His hand lightly teased her peak.

As he made his way down her neck, nipping and sucking in all her favorite places, he pulled her shirt up and over her head. Logan repositioned himself between her legs and took her nipple in his teeth before running his tongue around it. He repeated this action, causing Rory to moan and lift her hips into him. He switched his attention to her other breast which elicited a louder moan, and she started grinding her hips on him.

She felt his arousal and reached down to take his boxers off. Logan let his hand travel down her body to find her soaking wet. His fingers ran down her opening and dipped in slightly causing her to lift her hips off the bed and push on his hand. He halted her movements by placing his free hand on her hip.

Rory wrapped her legs around his waist in an attempt to draw him closer. He reached for a condom quickly and then caved to her desire. He entered her and buried his face into her neck and set a tempo. She eagerly met each thrust and soon both reached the edge. With a final stroke, both were sent over moaning each other's name and riding out the waves of their pleasure.

--

Logan returned from the bathroom and pulled Rory close to him under the comforter. He kissed her temple, but noticed she was no longer on the verge of sleep. During the silence his mind began to wander, and finally he spoke in a soft voice, "Hey Ace, you still with me?"

"Yep," she said, and turned in his arms to face him.

"So that got me thinking," Logan began.

"Oh, this should be interesting. What would _that_ make you think of…well other than that?"

"Our honeymoon," he offered, he had been thinking about that lately and was hoping he could find a way to surprise her.

"I actually follow that. So what about it?" Rory asked, with everything else she hadn't thought about it much.

"I was wondering where you wanted to go," he said, knowing they should make reservations soon.

"I hadn't really thought about it, do you have any ideas?"

"Well, I want to know what you're thinking about," he stated. He had a plan, but needed to a bit more to go on before he could execute it.

"Well, I've been picking a lot out for the wedding. So why don't I give 4 or 5 places and you can pick from that."

"Sounds fair," Logan offered. Secretly he was thrilled, she was playing right into his hands.

"Okay I think it should be in the southern hemisphere so it will be warm weather," Rory concluded, thinking out loud.

"I agree," Logan said kissing her neck.

"So in the South Pacific…I would say Australia, New Zealand, or…Fiji and in South America I would say around Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro," Rory listed thinking quickly.

"Those are all good choices," Logan replied, a plan quickly forming in his mind.

"So are there any you are ruling out immediately?" Rory asked.

"Yes," Logan said while thinking, 'not Australia, I've been there with Finn more than once.'

"Which one?" Rory questioned, she was curious.

"I'm not telling," Logan said grinning. When she had suggested this plan, he knew what he was going to do, and he knew she wouldn't like it, but they were her rules.

"But we agreed…I would give an initial list, and then you would choose from that," Rory pointed out.

"Now Ace, I thought you knew better by now. Think about what you just said, I pick from your list, right?"

"That's what I said," she said quickly.

"Did you say I have to tell you which one I chose?" Logan was met with silence; he took this as her defeat. "It will be a surprise, and I promise you will love it. I'll make the arrangements and have everything set, you won't have to worry about a thing." He silently added his thanks that she hadn't made him promise to tell her his choice because this way, he can plan everything and she won't make lists and itineraries and plan out every minute of the trip. Yes he would plan some things, but he also wanted to relax and enjoy the time with his new wife. New wife…he like that.

Rory stayed quiet and just nestled further into his embrace. This caused Logan to let out a laugh, he knew she was mad that she missed the obvious trap and even worse could blame no one but herself. "Goodnight baby," he said gently and tightened his grip.

He felt her shift her head and kiss his chest, but could also feel her smile against his skin. Yes, she hated not knowing, but he also knew she loved every minute of it.

--

_A/N: Please keep up the reviews!!!_


	16. Maria Wants Alone Time

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls_

_A/N: I apologize for the delay again, but hope you enjoy the chapter!_

--

Friday finally arrived. Logan was leaving to meet Jacob for the interview, and Rory was going to meet him shortly after with the rest of the group that she was picking up on the way.

Logan left his office after changing out of his suit so that he was wearing jeans and a polo shirt. Frank drove so that none of them had to worry about driving home after the concert. Logan arrived at the club to see Jacob waiting near the entrance so he went and greeted him before showing him the written agreement. After Jacob signed the agreement, Logan then led him to the back entrance.

Before he knocked, he locked at the young reporter and said, "Don't let Mrs. Kim scare you. But if she asks: You are single, live alone, go to church every Sunday, and attend bible study on Tuesday."

Looking confused, but not wanting to go against his boss, Jacob nodded as Logan brought his fist up to the door. The door opened to reveal Mrs. Kim.

"What do you want?" she asked, seeing Logan but turning on the unfamiliar face. Jacob was opening his mouth to respond when Logan cut him off, "Mrs. Kim, how are you?"

"Fine," she said curtly, still eyeing the newcomer, "I hear you going to marry Rory."

"Yes ma'am," Logan answered.

"You live together now?"

Logan sighed and knew he couldn't lie to her so he replied, "Yes ma'am."

"But you are boy," she pointed out. Jacob remained silent, slightly shocked that this woman had the guts to confront the Huntzberger heir, but also realizing why Mr. Huntzberger had given him the instructions he had.

"Yes ma'am," Logan said again, drawing on every manner he had been taught.

"Who are you?" she asked, turning to Jacob.

"I'm Jacob Keller from _The Observer_. I'm here for an interview with Hep Alien."

"Lane told me. You go to church?"

"Every Sunday, ma'am." Jacob said, repeating what Mr. Huntzberger had told him to say. He was thankful his boss was there with him and had coached him on what to say, or he probably would have run away by now.

"Good. Logan you go to church more," she scolded.

"Yes ma'am," Logan said automatically, wanting to get out of the conversation quickly.

"Logan!" Lane squealed in greeting, appearing suddenly behind her mother.

"Hey," Logan responded, thinking it was a miracle she had appeared just then. "I'd like you to meet Jacob, he'll be doing the interview."

"I'm Lane," she said with a smile and offering her hand, which he shook.

"Where are we doing the interview?" Jacob asked, unsure what else he should say.

"Oh, sorry. The guys are all back there," she said gesturing to where she came from. As she walked away, Jacob followed, but she saw Logan standing there so she asked, "Coming?"

Logan shook his head, replying sadly, "Not my interview. Besides, I'm waiting for everyone else.

Lane seemed to think for a moment and said, "Yeah, but still come back and at least say hi," while making a point to glance at her mom. Logan quickly realized what Lane was doing and went with her.

Once in the back, Logan greeted the guys, and Lane introduced them to Jacob. Jacob explained he wanted to get background information for a profile on the band which would accompany the review of the concert.

The band, especially Lane, got excited at this prospect. About 15 minutes into the interview, Logan's phone rang so he excused himself. It was Rory letting him know they were about 5 minutes away. He wandered around backstage waiting for them while avoiding the stares of Mrs. Kim. Eventually, there was a knock on the door. He let them all in and exchanges hellos with Finn, Colin, Steph, and Bri before pulling Rory into the beginning of a hallway that just happened to lead to the stage.

Seeing how hyper she was, Logan said, "Calm down there Ace."

"Sorry, I'm just excited!" she confessed, looking around for the band.

"You're worse than Lane," he teased.

"How is she? Freaking out yet?" Rory asked, knowing her best friend's tendencies.

"Well, when I left the interview, she was fine."

"Where is she now?" Rory asked, still not spotting her.

"In the interview," Logan said as if it were obvious.

"He's still here?" Rory nearly shouted. Everyone, well mostly Finn, had been running late. Usually, this would annoy her, but she had been hoping their tardiness would prevent her from seeing her co-worker backstage. And, with a lot of people in the audience, she was hopeful that he wouldn't see her at all.

"Yeah, the interview started late due to some Mrs. Kim interference."

"And he passed?" Rory asked shocked, no one she had met had managed to meet Mama Kim approval in their first try.

"Yes," Logan stated simply.

Not fooled, she questioned, "What did you do?"

Logan grinned, pulling Rory against him, and confessed in a whisper against her ear, "Before we got here, I told him what his life story should be if she asked."

Rory let out a small laugh just as Logan managed to back Rory into the wall and kissed her, leaning them into the wall in the process. The kiss deepened, and Logan brought one hand down to brush across her stomach while the other weaved into her hair. His mind wandered as he caressed her stomach, wondering what it would be like when she was pregnant with his child. That thought made him deepen the kiss more than it already was while managing to turn them around so he was leaning against the wall and pulling Rory into him.

Rory usually tried to keep her PDAs to a minimum and was going to pull away but remembered they were out of view, and she was rather enjoying this moment. Logan had a late meeting and she had an early one so they hadn't seen much of each other today, and as stupid as it sounded, she missed him. These were her last coherent thoughts before it all became clouded as Logan increased the intensity of the kiss even more.

--

Jacob had started the interview by asking questions about the band: how they started, where they practiced and had their first gig, and such. Then, he asked them each a few personal questions: who were their musical inspiration, where were they from, when did they start playing. All in all, it was a typical interview for a virtually unknown band. He did ask a few questions about having a married couple within the group; not in a negative sense, but it wasn't common and thought it added something unique, not to mention there was a common conception that failed relationships ruin the best bands and wanted their take on it.

When he finished, he thanked them for their time and wished them luck with their show. Lane escorted him from the room, so Jacob took this time to ask, "If I have any more questions, how would you like me to contact you?" It was an odd question, but since his boss had set this up, he didn't have the contact information.

Lane paused for a moment and then said, "Here let me give you my phone number, it would be easiest." She was about to start rattling it off when she noticed Jacob was frozen in his spot with a surprised look on his face. She then saw what he was looking at and had to say she was a bit surprised as well, but probably for different reasons. There in front of them was Logan and Rory making out. The more interesting thing was their position. Rory's shirt had ridden up, exposing a few inches of her midriff which Logan was massaging, but even then the kicker was Rory's right leg. She had it hooked on Logan's hip while he was running his other hand up and down the outside of her thigh and apparently they were just in time to see him move his hand up her thigh entirely and move to grab her ass, pulling her even closer.

--

As Lane went to recite her phone number, Jacob turned slightly to pull his note pad out of his pocket when something caught his eye. Not far from him, a couple was heavily making out. He was about to turn back not wanting to stare, when they turned around, and it dawned on him who the man was – Logan Huntzberger. He wasn't sure why the scene shocked him. Mr. Huntzberger had told him that his fiancé would be there, but even still he never expected to see them doing that. He had assumed that his fiancé was a passionless socialite who Mitchum was forcing his son to marry. All these thoughts floated through his head, causing him to mumble, "I guess that's his fiancé."

Not expecting a response, he was startled to hear Lane say, "Yep," then she called out rather loudly, "Rory!"

Jacob knew she was trying to get the girl's attention, but there was nothing. He did however notice the familiar tone with which she had yelled at the girl and asked, "You know her?"

"Yeah, you know my friend whose garage we began in? Well, that's her," Lane said pointing at Rory.

"But you're from a small town," he thought out loud, the pieces not adding up in his mind since he knew that the Huntzbergers would only merge with other members of society, something that no one in Lane's small town could possibly be.

"So?" Lane responded, not seeing his point.

"His fiancé is part of society, or at least that's what the paper said."

"Technically, she is, but in reality, she isn't."

"Huh?" Jacob asked, not understanding Lane's description at all.

"Her grandparents are part of society so she has the name, **BUT** her mom left when Rory was a baby. So, she grew up away from it. Her first exposure to it was in high school. Since then, she's become more involved in society – hardly difficult when you go to an Ivy like the rest of society – but really stays away as much as possible."

"So the marriage wasn't arranged?" Jacob asked out loud before he even realized what he said.

"Why would you think that?" Lane asked, looking at him strangely.

"Office gossip," Jacob admitted, embarrassed he had listened to it at all.

"No, not arranged," Lane said laughing, "I don't think anyone could claim they didn't love each other." Then, she looked back at Rory and decided this was getting ridiculous, "Rory...Rory!" Lane groaned, then turned to Jacob, "Can I borrow your pencil?"

Jacob handed it to her, not sure what she needed it for, but quickly saw her whip the object at Rory. When it hit her back, Lane tried again, "Rory!"

"What?" she asked, resting her forehead against Logan's chest obviously not happy about being interrupted.

"Get a room!" Lane teased.

"Excellent idea," Rory said to everyone's surprise. She grabbed Logan's hand and went to pull him into the dressing room, when she turned and saw who was standing next to Lane. At that same time, Jacob gasped in shock.

"Ella?" Jacob asked, confused at what he was seeing.

"Hi," Rory managed to get out before becoming beet red. Jacob watched as she walked over to two more girls, one he noticed was Bri, and pulled them with Lane into the dressing room.

This left Logan and Jacob standing silently together. Logan broke the air, "She's my fiancé."

"I figured that, but why did Lane call her Rory?"

"Why don't we sit," Logan said and walked over to sit with Colin and Finn who were grinning like mad.

"What?" Logan asked, taking in their faces.

"How you doing mate? A little flushed? Feeling constricted?" Finn asked, hinting at the heated scene Logan had just left.

Seeing the embarrassment on his friend's face, Colin added, "Need a cold shower?"

Logan glared at them, "No." Wanting to change the subject he said, "This is Jacob, he is doing the interview. Jacob, my friends Colin and Finn."

The three men exchanged hand shakes before Logan turned back to Jacob, "I'll give you the short version: Ella Danes is really Rory Gilmore, my fiancé. Ella is her pen name for work.

"Why?" Jacob asked.

"How much gossip have you heard about me or my fiancé?" Logan asked, trying to explain this quickly.

"A lot," Jacob said, hoping he wouldn't ask specifics.

"Right and she knew it would happen. Rory just wanted to establish herself and fit in before everyone started making assumptions about her because of her relationship with me."

"But the paper said your fiancé's name was Lorelai?" Jacob questioned, before he could stop himself. He silently cringed, hoping he wouldn't anger his boss by asking too many questions.

"The paper announced my engagement to Lorelai Gilmore which is Rory's full name. She just goes by Rory since she's the third Lorelai in the Gilmore family, including her mother."

"So this is why you had me sign the privacy contract?" Jacob asked.

"It was a big part of it, but I wasn't lying when I said it was to protect myself and friends as well. We're all," he said pointing around to his friends, "Rory included, a pretty big target for the gossip mills so we try to prevent things getting out as much as possible."

"So I assume Bri knows."

"She does. Do I need to remind you that you cannot leak this information to anyone, not even gossip at work about it?" Logan pushed, knowing that this was ultimately what Rory was worried about.

"I understand," Jacob sighed, knowing that Mr. Huntzberger was taking this issue very seriously.

There was an eerie silence until Finn spoke up, "Where can we get a drink?"

Colin laughed and went in search of drinks for the group.

--

The girls walked into the dressing room, and Rory immediately began pacing. Seeing the guys, Lane immediately sent them to check on the stage. The rest of the girls then sat down watching Rory pace. After a few minutes, Steph remembered something and gave a whispered introduction between Lane and Bri.

None of them were quite sure what to say. Finally, Steph couldn't take it anymore, "So Ror, that was some show."

Rory stopped, whipped around, and glared at her before resumed her pacing.

On the couch, Lane leaned into the other two and said, "Why would you say that?"

Steph shrugged, "I had to say something, that's just what came out."

Lane sighed and glanced back at Rory, before saying, "I don't think it helped."

"I can hear you, you know," Rory said, while maintaining her pattern.

"Rory, I don't think it's that bad," Bri offered, and trying to calm her friend, she added, "Didn't he sign that contract anyways."

"What?" Rory asked, snapping out of her trance, "Yeah, but that isn't what this is about."

"Then, what?" a now confused Bri asked.

"I was about to DRAG Logan into a room and have sex with him!" she practically yelled while waving her arms.

"So?" Steph asked, not seeing the problem.

"And my co-worker heard that. Not to mention saw me in a compromising position," Rory explained, her face blushing again at the thought.

"So?" Steph asked again.

"So! I don't do PDA. Those are things that are meant to be private. And against the wall like that is not private. I don't want other people to see, it's embarrassing," she rambled, trying to explain her thoughts.

"It's embarrassing that you and your future husband are attracted to each other?" Steph asked, trying to make her see reason.

"But people shouldn't see it!"

"Would you rather be marrying someone who didn't feel that way? Then no one would ever see it," Steph pushed. She had learned sometimes you had to take things to the extreme to calm Rory down.

"You're changing my words around," Rory said, getting annoyed with Steph.

"Fine, it's a little embarrassing, but it's not like none of us haven't done it as well."

"I guess," Rory relented, seeing her point.

"No, I'm right," Steph stated with such force no one was going to question her. Then with the clap of her hands, she said, "Now, Lane we need to get you ready."

"Lane! I'm so sorry. I forgot, this night is about you," Rory said apologizing to her friend.

"It's fine Rory," Lane said with a smile, but now her nerves were overtaking her.

"Are you nervous?" Bri asked, not knowing much about Lane.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Lane said, while digging through her things.

The girls chatted as Steph gave Lane's hair and make-up what they called a fun, but rock band look. When that was done, Lane pulled out a small pile of clothes. She had been freaking out about what to wear and tried asking the guys, but they were no help so she just brought a random pile.

The four girls started going through the choice trying to decide which was the best outfit to pick. Surprisingly, Bri spoke first, "Not the skirt. I like it, but just seems like you would flash the crowd."

Lane laughed, "I must not have been thinking…there is a reason I never wear them."

After further discussion, the girls settled on a pair of baggy, straight legged maroon pants with a black shinny sleeveless top. Rory had picked the shirt saying it would look cool when the light hit it on stage.

Rory, Steph, and Bri went out to where the guys were and let Lane change. When they got out there, Steph saw Rory stop at the sight of Jacob, obviously still a little embarrassed about what had happened earlier.

Deciding she needed to relax her friend, she said, "Logan, Rory doesn't want you to love her anymore."

Luckily for Steph, it worked because before Rory could over analyze anything, she said, "That is not what I said!"

All of the guys laughed at the exchange, and Logan played along, "It's okay Ace, I knew one day this might happen. Don't worry about me though, Maria has missed having me all to herself."

This just caused Rory to laugh, and Logan added, "Although I'm not sure who costs more to feed."

Everyone knew they were joking about something, but for the first time none of them knew what the reference was to. Colin was the one who spoke up for the group, "Okay, who is Maria?"

Rory looked at Logan who was pleading with her not to answer, but she said, "His Porsche."

Finn gasped, "Logan say it isn't true."

"What's wrong with that," Steph asked, "if Rory can name her coffee pot, Logan's car can have one too."

"No," Finn stated adamantly, "you can call your car _she_ or _her_, but it never okay to actually name your car. Logan you are to be shunned by men everywhere." Off to the side Colin, and even Jacob, could be seen nodding their heads in agreement.

"I didn't name the car, she did," he argued.

"And you let her…she never did give you back your balls, did she?" Finn teased, which caused everyone, including Rory, to laugh even more.

Even though Rory was amused, she knew she should help Logan, "Finn grow up!"

Finn gasped, feigning shock, "Love I think there is something you should know."

"What?" Rory asked, wondering how he was going to defend his behavior.

"You're only young once but you can be immature forever."

"Ha! More proof you are 3," Bri shouted.

"Three and a half doll, get it right!"

"That half a year adds a lot to the maturity," Bri said sarcastically.

"You have no idea," Steph said in agreement.

The group continued talking and was soon told the band was going to start soon so they made there way into the club. They parted ways with Jacob who wanted to be able to fully listen to the concert, as well as get feedback from what he had called a _less biased sampling _of people.

The 6 found a booth off to the side, but still with a clear view the stage which had been reserved on the band's request. They sat down and quickly order a few appetizer type foods and a round of drinks.

Soon after the food came, the band came out to open their concert. The group sat and listened to the first few songs. They were happy to see that the set was coming together well, and the rest of the people were enjoying the music.

Soon, Logan grabbed Rory as he stood up, demanding she dance with him. He dragged her out on the dance floor where he quickly pulled her flush against his body, enjoying the contact.

Rory looked up at him and teased, "How you feeling there?"

Logan knew she could feel his arousal, so he smirked, "Wonderful, how about you?"

"Spectacular."

They danced for a few more songs, during which Rory had wrapped her arms around his neck and was now leaning her head against his chest.

"Lane's going to be excited, this is going well," Rory said.

Logan barely heard her over the band so he nodded in response knowing she would feel his reply.

"Hey Logan?" she asked, moving her lips to his ear.

"Yeah Ace," he said letting his hand run up her side.

Knowing he was becoming distracted in the moment, she thought she would try and get some information. So, she lightly took his ear in her teeth for which she received a deep moan. "Where are we going for our honeymoon?" she asked innocently, while holding in her laughter to not alert Logan to her attempt for information.

Logan started laughing, "I'll admit, I think I taught you that a little too well, but still not going to work babe."

Letting out a frustrated growl, Rory just resumed dancing, enjoying being in his arms.

--

Not long after Rory and Logan left, Steph looked at Colin while sticking out her bottom lip and giving him her sad eyes.

"Steph would you like to dance?" he asked, forcing his voice to sound excited about the idea.

She nodded happily and jumped up, dragging Colin behind her. As they got to the dance floor, Steph started jumping up and down with the music and going nuts. Colin just watched her, not doing much of anything.

"Colin, why aren't you dancing?" Steph practically yelled from her spot so he could hear her over the music.

Colin pulled Steph to him so she would hear his response, "I'll dance, but not like that."

"You're no fun," she said pouting again.

"Okay Steph, I love you, you know that right?"

"I love you too, now what does that have to do with dancing?" Steph asked, starting to bounce again with the music.

"And when you're with someone, you learn things about them, like what they're allergic too or what movies they like or how to relax them."

"Yep!" she said happily, and then if trying to prove a point, she said, "Penicillin and bee stings, _A Few Good Men _and _Bad Boys_ to name a few, and massaging the upper part of your neck."

Colin smiled, "Exactly, now that we've established you know me: What could have possibly made you think I was going to dance like that?" he asked, gesturing to someone that was dancing like Steph had been a few moments earlier.

Steph paused and then kissed him, "I have no idea. Why am I dating someone so boring?" she whined.

"Because if you weren't you would have sprained an ankle by now dancing like that," Colin teased.

"Fine, but you'll dance a little right?" she asked.

"Yep, come here," he replied as he pulled her against him.

--

Bri and Finn sat silently in the booth, both watching the 2 couples that had left.

"They seem happy," Bri observed.

"They are," Finn replied, "I can't imagine them apart." He glanced between the couples, both obviously in love, and realized that Logan and Colin were lucky. He never really wished to be like other people, but desperately sought what both of them fought tooth and nail against. But, he saw the change that occurred in both his friends when they fell in love, and he knew they never looked back.

"I like Steph, she's fun," Bri commented, breaking Finn's train of thought, "and Lane seems cool too; although, I didn't get to talk that much with her."

Finn nodded, "They are. What about us guys?"

"I haven't figured you guys out yet," she replied honestly. She always found it harder to read guys than girls.

"It's not too hard, what about me? You've spent more time with me than Logan or Colin," Finn offered, trying to test her response.

"I've spent time with you, that doesn't mean I know you. All we ever talked about were movies and random things. I know there are things you don't know about me, and I'm sure there are things you haven't told me."

Finn thought for a moment and then answered, "But that's how it works when you make new friends, it takes time to learn everything. We are friends right?"

Bri looked at him unsure, "Yeah, we are."

Finn smiled, "So tell me something I don't know about you."

"I have a tattoo," she said.

"Of what?" He asked, truly curious.

"A red rose," she said, indicating its position on her lower back, "okay, now your turn."

"I've never owned a pet, but I've always wanted a cat."

"Why a cat?" Bri had only ever had a dog.

"Honestly, it's more feasible. It would work better living in an apartment in the city," Finn explained.

"So why not get one?" Bri asked.

"Don't know, just thought I'd wait a while. I still have to travel for work and wouldn't want it to be alone for days at a time."

The two kept up a light conversation. Eventually their drinks were gone.

"Want to go to the bar and get another drink?" Finn offered.

"Sure," Bri said with a smile and stood up first. They made their way to the bar, once there, Finn squeezed between people leaning on the bar to get to a bartender leaving Bri a few feet behind him. He placed his order and waited for his drinks, looking back out on the dance floor. When he was served, he dropped a 20 and told the bartender to keep the change. Carrying both drinks, he turned back to hand Bri hers, but she wasn't where he had left her. Scanning his surroundings, he spotted her not far away being virtually groped by some guy. Rushing over, he gave the drinks to someone he passed and pulled Bri to him as soon as she was within reach.

"Hey," the obviously drunk man slurred, "I saw her first."

Glancing at the guy and then back at Bri he kissed her forehead and asked her quietly, "You okay?"

When she nodded, Finn turned back to the man, "Sorry mate, she came here with me." This statement coupled with his short memory caused the man to wander off.

Walking her away from the bar area, Finn looked at her again, "Are you really okay?"

"Finn, I'm fine. He was drunk: He probably won't remember he did it tomorrow anyways," Bri said, trying to wave it off.

"That doesn't make it okay," he snapped backed.

"I know, but really I'm fine. Glad you saw me when you did, but fine. I really don't think he would have done anything, he kept calling me some other name…apparently I reminded him of an old girlfriend."

"If you're sure," Finn asked one more time to be sure. When she nodded, he offered her his arm and asked, "Sit or dance?"

Bri seemed to look between their options and eventually said, "Dance."

This was fine by Finn. He, unlike Colin, didn't mind dancing. When they got on the dance floor, they joked around and eventually spotted Rory and Logan dancing next to Colin and Steph so they joined them. The girls started dancing together in a small circle while the guys found a waiter, ordered drinks and stood near them. This arrangement worked out the best.

It seemed all too soon the concert was ending and the 6 made their way back outside to head home. During the drive they all talked about the concert and what kind of review they thought Hep Alien would get. Rory was sure it would be wonderful and reminded herself to call Lane the next day to chat.

--

_A/N: Please read and review! I love comments good and bad so keep them up._


	17. Get His Attention!

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls_

_A/N: Hope you enjoy the chapter. Originally it was 2, but I combined it into one, so while it has a couple more things happening in it than most it is also longer. I had fun writing it and love my beta because she worked extra hard to help a few spots in it!_

--

Rory walked into _The Observer_ Monday morning, nervous about seeing Jacob after the concert on Friday. Logan had reassured her that he was going to comply with the conditions, but the worrier within her was still unsure. She found her way to her desk and started her morning. First, she fulfilled her coffee fix, then checked her email.

Today was their weekly staff meeting. Since the paper came out on Sunday, today was when they would get their new assignments. She also had an individual meeting with Jacobson later this morning, but wasn't sure why. Looking at her watch, Rory saw she had 20 minutes to kill before the meeting started.

When Bri wandered into the office, she went over to her friend.

"Morning," Bri greeted, but fatigue laced her voice.

"Hey Bri," Rory said glancing up from her screen, "long weekend?"

"It wasn't too bad, just didn't get much sleep last night. Nothing I can do now," Bri sighed and wanting to change the subject, asked, "did you read the article?"

"I did," Rory said.

"What did you think?" Bri asked.

"It was good. The band loved it, I think I listened to Lane go on and on for at least an hour," she explained, with an eye roll.

Bri laughed, "I will admit, I was impressed with their music."

"I'm going to tell Lane you said that, she'll be glad to hear it. Speaking of the concert, did you have fun Friday? I mean, I haven't had a chance to talk to you since…" Rory said, starting to ramble.

"I did, Lane was nice, and I had fun talking to everyone else," Bri said honestly.

"I saw you talking to Finn for a while," Rory hinted.

"I was," Bri said, hoping the questions would end there. She wasn't sure she could answer any more, primarily because she didn't know what to make of it herself.

"So?" Rory asked.

"We were just talking…getting to know each other better," Bri stated, then noticed the look on Rory's face, so added, "AS FRINEDS!"

Ignoring her last declaration, Rory said, "He seemed very protective of you when we were dancing later."

"Really?" Bri asked. She had noticed that he spent a good bit of the evening nearby after they joined everyone on the dance floor, but didn't think too much of it.

"Yep, and he wasn't like that earlier in the evening…so was there a reason for this change?" Rory wondered out loud.

"There was this guy at the bar," Bri started.

Before she could finish, Rory jumped in, "Let me guess, hitting on you?"

"Kind of, well no, not me," Bri answered.

"Huh?" Rory said confused.

"He kept calling me Tracy, or Stacy, or Casey, or something like that. Apparently, she left him a few days ago, and he thought I was her."

"Still doesn't explain Finn's behavior," Rory offered, hoping to get the rest of the story.

"At first, he was just holding my arms or hands talking really fast, but he was drunk so everything was slurred and not making sense. Then, he started hugging me and running his hands up and down my sides. When he started trying to kiss me, Finn spotted us and intervened. It was bizarre," Bri finished with a shake of her head.

"So what did Finn do," Rory asked, now enthralled by the story.

"Pulled me away, kissed my forehead, and asked if I was okay."

"Were you? I mean, I can only imagine what I would be thinking if it would have been me," Rory questioned.

"I was confused, and in shock, and uncomfortable. I mean it happened so quickly, but it wasn't like he was being violent, so I wouldn't say I was scared."

"What did you tell Finn?" Rory asked, figuring there was more to the story.

"That I was fine, he looked angry, and I didn't want him to cause a scene," Bri said quietly.

Rory nodded, "I understand that."

"Well, after that, he wouldn't let me out of his sight," Bri explained.

"So now you have a guard dog," Rory teased.

Bri gave a small smile, "I wouldn't say that."

Rory rolled her eyes and walked over to refill her coffee as Bri poured herself another cup. They chatted for a few more minutes before making their way to the conference room.

--

"Good morning," Mike said, greeting his staff. The perkiness in his voice gained him an assortment of groans. "Still not morning people," he observed and then continued, "So there is a bill coming into the State Congress early next week, it is anti-hazing legislation. Holmes wants a full section on the issue: how will it affect the city, cases of hazing, and a profile of the bill. There will be other articles that come up as always, but for now this is the assignment. It's going to take the whole staff, and this came down from the top so they will be watching, now please pay attention. He started down the list of reporters, giving them various articles on the issue

Finally, he reached Rory, "Danes, you have the interview with the rep who proposed the bill: what they are trying to achieve, what will or won't be construed as hazing. Also, investigate hazing allegations at high schools here, do some research on successful college campus hazing regulations and how they've been adapted in high schools here in the city, and we will discuss details on combining them into an article later."

Rory gave him a nod, and he continued spouting assignments. Near the end of the meeting, he made some general comments, "Make sure to get all aspects of this. We want people to understand this is an issue of safety not an attempt to hinder reasonable behavior. Also, don't hesitate to reference other anti-hazing laws at institutions or ones on the book in other states if it will help make your point." After some final thoughts, the meeting was concluded.

Back at her desk, Rory called the rep and set up an interview for Thursday. She was now thinking about her individual meeting with Mike and was trying to calm her nerves while hoping it would go smoothly. She glanced at the clock, and seeing the time, walked slowly to his office and knocked. She entered when she heard him call her in.

"How are you Ella?" He asked, before starting the meeting.

"I'm well, thank you," she answered cordially.

"Good, now onto our meeting. First, the incidents of hazing you are to report on should be from the past year, and don't forget to search police reports."

"Of course," Rory said, not sure why he was saying this. She knew all of those things.

"Now, moving on to your three month review, which was the reason for this meeting. I've been observing you in the office and have read your articles. You're doing well, you're facts are nearly flawless, and your grammar is even better. I can't complain about your behavior in the office, you stay on task and maintain professionalism. My only advice is to keep the same intensity in your research and writing for all articles, whether they are your favorite or not. While it is something you should work on, don't worry about it to much; it's something we are all guilty of."

"I understand," Rory said, truthfully happy to be getting this type of review.

"You have a real gift for journalism. I'm sure you will have many achievements in your future," Mike stated.

"I hope I do as well," Rory agreed.

"But you know Ella, much of a person's success isn't just about talent," Mike hinted.

"No?" Rory questioned, wanting to hear what he was going to say.

"No, it's just as much about the people you know. For example, when I started here I worked hard and caught the attention of my editor, and then when this job opened up, he recommended me for it. That is how it works. You make a good impression, and it will help you later."

"I see," Rory said, unsure of how else he wanted her to respond.

"I know, you're fresh out of school and still learning about the industry. But, I'm sure there could even be some people you met in college that could help you," Mike said.

"If you say so…" Rory said, just wanting the meeting to end.

"And these connections may not always be about you. They could ask you about someone you work with. Like me, has anyone ever asked about how I am as an editor?" Mike asked, hoping to get information.

"Like who?" Rory wondered.

"Anyone," he said casually.

"Not that I can think of, was someone supposed to?" Rory asked, not sure if this was hypothetical or not. She remembered Logan asking about him, but that was more about his behavior than his job so she didn't mention it, nor should she if she wanted to leave the office within the next two hours.

"No, but I would hope you would only have good things to say if they did," Mike hinted.

"Is there someone you expect to talk to me about this?" Rory asked, wanting to clear up the situation.

Mike seemed to think for a minute before saying, "Logan Huntzberger," when he saw the look of surprise on Ella's face, he added, "I got the feeling you don't get along very well with him, but he still knows you. That's worth more than you know."

"Really?" Rory asked, trying to keep from rolling her eyes.

"Look, just try to stay on his good side. Don't snap at him like you did, he won't put up with it for long. You wouldn't want to loose your job would you? I mean, it took me a lot of convincing for him not to fire you the last time you did it: I doubt he'd be so lenient again."

Rory almost laughed at this, but must not have done a good job of holding her laughter in because next Mike was saying, "You shouldn't find this funny Ella. I know colleges want students to think outside the box and express their thoughts and opinions, but if you do that too much here it can cause trouble."

"Of course," Rory said automatically. "Is there anything else?" she asked, almost afraid of what he would say next.

"I was hoping you could help get Mr. Huntzberger's attention," he explained, giving her a meaningful look.

"Excuse me!" Rory said, shocked at what he seemed to be suggesting.

"Not like that. Did you know last week he PERSONALLY contacted some band to help secure an interview for the Entertainment staff," Mike said, annoyance evident in his voice.

"Yes," Rory said, not expecting that.

"Then, I heard he gave final approval for the article," he said in a tone that clearly showed he wasn't sure if he believed that part or not.

"So?" Rory questioned, unable to help herself.

"Well, that caught everyone's attention, including Charles Holmes. Now he's praising their work. We need that. So since you seem to know him, I was hoping you could find a way to get him to help with or just notice this story. If we can get that, then maybe more funding will come our way; hopefully get those new computers. We could use them."

"I'm not sure what I can do," Rory said, not wanting to get involved.

--

After what seemed like forever, Rory left the meeting.

"So how'd it go?" Bri asked, pulling Rory into the break room.

Rory rolled her eyes, "Well my review went well, but then he informed me that I need to _get Mr. Huntzberger's attention_."

Bri started laughing hysterically, causing a few people walking by the room to look at the two strangely.

"It's not funny!" Rory exclaimed, while desperately trying to get Bri to calm down so they didn't blow her cover.

"Why did he ask you to do that?" Bri said, regaining control.

"Because I knew him in college," Rory sighed.

"Makes sense," Bri said with a nod.

"I know. That's what is annoying because if I worked with him at the paper and our relationship wasn't what it is, I wouldn't hesitate."

Rory shook her head and made her way beck to her desk, where she worked the rest of the day.

--

The next afternoon, Rory was leaning against the counter in the break room, pouring yet another cup of coffee while mulling over her work when Jacob entered. This was the first time she had seen him since the club on Friday.

She looked at him cautiously and said, "Hey."

"I'm not going to say anything," he offered.

"Really?" Rory asked.

Jacob gave a smile, "Really. One, I'm afraid of what he'll do to me. He was adamant that nothing get out about you. Two, I know I can't relate to your situation, but I get that you have your reasons for what you're doing. Honestly, I always heard the gossip about his fiancé and laughed because it wasn't like anyone _knew_ the girl. Now I figure that it must be hard when nobody knows your true identity. And three, I can only imagine what you'd face from the rest of the staff if I said anything. So you're safe."

"Thanks," Rory said, before relaxing a bit.

"No problem," he said and gave a small wave as Rory made her way back to her desk.

She went back to researching her article. Her mind seemed unable to focus. She had been meaning to take an afternoon off to get an errand done, and with how her day was going, hoped today could be it. As lunch approached, she asked Mike for the afternoon off.

Instead of a yes or no response, he asked, "Have you talked to Huntzberger?"

"No," she replied.

"Ella we need this," Mike said, ready to rehash the points he made yesterday.

"I'm sure I can make time this afternoon if you give me it off," she tried bargaining.

He sighed, "Fine, but tomorrow you better have made some progress and be ready to work."

--

Rory headed out and made her way to Fifth Avenue. Mitchum had offered to make her an appointment, but she was never sure when she would make it so hadn't, and hoped she could still get the help she needed. She didn't know which store to try first so went into the first she saw, _Cartier_.

She entered the store and was greeted by the security guard at the door before she walked over to the display case holding men's rings and started browsing. Her main problem was she had no clue what she wanted. She knew it should be simple. While money was not an object, Logan wasn't the guy to wear a diamond encrusted ring. The only thing she did know was, in some way, she wanted his ring to match hers. That meant she was looking for platinum, which she liked the look of anyway and knew wouldn't tarnish.

As she was looking, a woman came over and greeted her, "Welcome to Cartier. How may I help you today?"

"Well, I'm looking for a wedding band for my fiancé," Rory explained.

"Excellent, anything in particular I can help you find?"

"I'm not really sure what I'm looking for."

"Well," the lady replied, "these rings here are our basic band and the least expensive, the ones in this case are a bit more stylish but also more expensive, and the ones in this case are much more ornate and extremely pricy. Most young brides go with ones in the first case so they can keep the ring reasonably priced while still having the name."

"Thank you," Rory replied, "If I see something I like that isn't exactly what I want, can I have it custom made?"

"Yes, you may; although, it would be much more expensive. The exact price depends on the changes you want, but is high enough that most customers don't consider it an option," she replied, before asking, "Anything else?"

Rory shook her head and then said, "Let me look, and I will let you know."

Rory continued inspecting the various designs, wanting something traditional, but not plain. She wasn't sure what would achieve that and gave a sigh of frustration when a ring caught her eye. It was two different shades of silver that formed a pattern, but the band held the classic shape.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Rory inquired.

The woman walked over, "Find one you like?"

"Sort of," Rory said and pointed into the case, "what is it made out of?"

"The darker part is platinum while the slightly lighter shade is white gold," she explained pointing to two regions on the surface.

"Do you have any others like that, but with different patterns?" Rory asked.

"Sorry, that is the only one."

"Could I talk to someone about creating a design?" Rory asked, really liking the appearance of the ring in front of her.

"Of course, let me get the schedule book to make an appointment with one of our artists."

Rory waited until the woman came back, knowing once the woman knew who she was, she'd be helped immediately.

Upon her return, she said, "I have an opening available on the 20th of next month, will that work?"

"That's fine," Rory replied.

"Name?"

"Lorelai Gilmore." With her reply, the woman looked up at her slightly shocked, but not positive this was the correct person.

"And may I ask for the name of your fiancé?"

Holding in her chuckle, Rory replied, "Logan Huntzberger." The woman froze in shock before telling Rory to wait a minute and practically running out of the show room.

Almost immediately, the woman returned, followed by an older man.

The man quickly began to address her, saying, "Miss Gilmore, I apologize for not coming out to meet you when you arrived. Beth here tells me that you are looking for a wedding ring for Mr. Huntzberger. The elder Mr. Huntzberger mentioned to me you may stop by to find a ring for his son, but I didn't see that an appointment had been made."

"Oh, that's quite all right. Actually, I didn't make an appointment because I wasn't sure when I'd be able to stop by but I'll have to thank Mitchum for mentioning that I might."

"Thank you Miss Gilmore," he replied, looking relieved that he hadn't overlooked something. "I am John, one of the Cartier designers. How can I help you miss?" he asked in a friendly tone, his features warming when he realized that the young Mr. Huntzberger's fiancé would be pleasant to work with.

"I was looking for a wedding band for Logan, but I haven't seen anything that I think he will like. I like this ring," Rory said pointing at the one in the case, "but don't like the pattern that's on it. Could that be changed?"

"Depends on what exactly you would like changed, but generally, yes it can be done," the man answered. "But, I'm sure we will be able to design another ring that meets your requirements if that one cannot be altered. Why don't you come into my office while I make a few sketches for you to look over?" he continued. With this, he led Rory up a flight of stairs into a design lab.

Looking at the ring that he placed on the table, she explained, "Instead of being sharp angles, I was thinking smooth lines," then she held out her hand and added, "I was hoping to have it match the band of my ring in some way."

He asked to see her ring so he could see the details more closely. After Rory handed it to him, John studied it for a minute before beginning to make a sketch. He drew the band as it would appear on Logan's finger – strong, bold outer lines to define the band with two distinct squiggly lines in the center that intersected and bounced off the top and bottom bars to create series of infinity signs which created an hourglass looking effect on the voided spaces. This intricate design on the ring seemed to have the same _'forever'_ effect as the ribbon of diamonds on her ring

The man pointed and explained his design, "The outside and two main interior bars would be platinum to match your ring while the fill between them would be while gold. It would still create the subtle design like the ring you pointed out in the showroom, while also complementing your ring quite well."

Rory looked at it and smiled, "I like it."

"Good, now you need to fill out the top of this order form." She did as he requested before he started talking again, "I'll be using this sketch as the design template. Would you like any diamonds included on the ring?"

"No, I think he would like this better," Rory said with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Okay, ring size," he asked, glancing down at the partially filled out sheet.

As Rory replied, "10.5," her mind wandered to a few weeks ago when he embarrassedly admitted he had his ring size measured while he was shopping for her rings.

"Would you like an inscription engraved on the inside?"

Rory hadn't thought about that, but knew she wanted one. After thinking for a few minutes, she decided on _'You Jump, I Jump Jack. I love you, Ace.'_

"Okay, I think that is it for now. I will make a computer design of the ring so you can preview it and make any final adjustments. At that time, I will have a price," he said explaining the procedure.

"And when will the design be ready?" Rory asked.

"I would say 2-4 weeks."

"Sounds good, and thank you for all of your help."

"My pleasure miss, have a nice day."

"You too," she offered as she exited the building.

She walked down the street, going in and out of stores along her way, browsing the merchandise. She was interrupted from her peace by her cell phone.

"Hello," she answered.

"Hey," the caller responded.

"Bri? What's up?" Rory inquired.

"Well, I'm at the office and thought I'd call you with a reminder," Bri said quietly, not wanting to be overheard at work.

"About what?" Rory asked, this was highly unusual.

"Well Jacobson was just at my desk asking if you mentioned anything to me about Huntzberger or if you had talked to him recently."

Rory groaned, "I'm not sure what he expects."

"Well, me neither, but I would make sure you have something to tell him tomorrow," Bri warned.

"Yeah, yeah," Rory said, not sure what else to say.

Bye," Bri said in a teasing voice.

"Thanks for the warning and goodbye," Rory said and closed her phone. She had one more stop to make on her way home.

--

Logan had spent half of his morning in conference calls with his father and various papers and the other half going over financial projections for their 3 papers in the city. When he looked up from his work and saw it was already 5:45, he decided he had enough for the evening and headed home.

When he walked into his apartment, he was greeted by Rory, and his jaw dropped. She walked up to him confidently, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. When she pulled back, his eyes raked her over – only then did she blush. She was standing in an outfit he would have never thought she'd wear: a matching tanga and bra made of black lace, with black thigh highs and heels.

When he regained some composure and cleared his mind, he asked, "What did you do?"

"Why would I have done something?" she asked, batting her eyelashes, not liking his assumption.

"You're obviously trying to distract me…but from what?" Logan asked, looking around their home.

"Well I hate to tell you, but you're wrong," she said with a smirk.

"You sure?" he asked, not finding another reason for her outfit.

"Yes. I am not trying to distract you, I'm trying to get your attention," she said smiling.

"You've had that for a long time Ace, so what's up?"

"Jacobson told me I had to draw your attention, apparently he's jealous of the personal hand you had in the entertainment staff last week," Rory said, trying to explain.

"So how did you get involved?" Logan questioned.

"Since I knew you in college, he wanted to use me as a way to make contact. Then, I was thinking, what catches Logan's attention, and then I remembered…sex. So here I am," Rory finished with a nervous smile unsure if she had made the right move.

"Uh huh…" Logan said, walking towards her.

"Don't tell me it's not working because it took a lot for me to put this on," she ranted.

Logan laughed and put his hands on her hips, "Oh it's working, but you didn't need the outfit. And, don't worry, it will be off in no time at all," he whispered huskily into her ear.

"So what am I supposed to tell Jacobson tomorrow?" Rory asked, needing something to tell him.

"Just tell him you talked to me, and I'm helping you. What is the article about anyways?" Logan asked, thinking that he should at least be aware of the topic in case he was asked about it later.

"Anti-hazing legislation. I have an interview with the rep who wrote the bill and then need to investigate hazing allegations at area high schools."

"Okay well, talk to Colin, he had to do a huge profile on the issue for a class, it will save you lots of research" Logan offered.

"Thanks!" Rory said truly happy for the help.

"Now, about this outfit…" Logan teased, while looking it over again.

"Don't make me regret wearing it or you will never see it again," she warned.

Logan pulled her to him and kissed her deeply and led her down the hall to their bed. Once there he teased her body before slowly removing what few clothes she did have on. Logan would never admit it, but times like this, when she was bold, turned him on in a way he never would have imagined. It wasn't like she was the first girl to take this approach, but something about Rory, the girl who blushes at the first mention of sex, behaving this way was a sight to behold.

Soon Logan's thoughts returned to his stunning fiancé and realized he now had them both completely nude. He paused as if to memorize her exactly this way before allowing himself to do what he had been aching for since he first saw her tonight.

--

Thursday came and Rory had a long day ahead of her. In the late morning, she had her interview with the rep who was the architect of the legislation, and then after lunch, she was talking to a boy involved in an incident on his high school track and field team.

Rory arrived at the first interview with some prepared questions, but also hoped the conversation would lead itself. The rep explained why he wrote the bill and what he was hoping it would achieve.

After the standard questions were finished, Rory spoke, "Some anti-hazing laws are what people call extreme. I found one college where the rules were so strict that anything that could be construed as forcing someone new, such as a pledge in a fraternity or freshman on a sport's team, to do something, even asking them to answer the door, falls under hazing."

"That is not the intention of this bill. The way I describe it is to ask yourself, 'Would I be embarrassed or uncomfortable telling my parents or grandparents I asked someone to do this or did it myself.' If the answer is yes, we are getting into the hazing this law is trying to prevent. I know that isn't the wording in the bill, but that was the mind set when it was written. We don't want everything to fall under hazing, but for it to target cases of concern."

"Fair enough," Rory said, liking the way he described it, "unless you have anything to add, I think I am finished."

"No, nothing to add."

"Well then, thank you for your time," Rory said, standing to leave and offering her hand.

"Anytime," he replied.

--

Bri had been on assignment with another reporter this morning, but was accompanying Rory on her interview in the afternoon. Since they didn't see each other this morning, they decided to meet for lunch. When Rory entered, she didn't see Bri, so she grabbed a booth and sure enough, it was soon filled, with a thud.

"I need to talk to you," Bri said agitated.

"What?" Rory asked, wondering what was wrong.

"I don't know what to do!" Bri whined, ignoring Rory's comment.

"About what?" Rory asked again, waving her hands in front of Bri's face.

"Last night I got a voice mail," Bri stated like this was an odd occurrence.

"Okay…" Rory offered, unsure about why this was now a crisis.

"It was from Finn, and it was late when I heard it so I decided to wait until morning to call him back," Bri explained.

"How is your bodyguard?" Rory teased. When Bri shot her a glare, she amended her question, "Fine, what did he want?"

"He asked me out on a date," Bri announced, with a look of shock on her face.

"What did you say?" Rory questioned, hoping she had said yes, but frowned when she saw Bri freeze.

"That I wasn't sure, and I'd call him back," Bri said embarrassed.

"So what are you going to say?" Rory questioned.

"I don't know! That is why I am talking to you about it," Bri yelled in frustration.

"Do you like him?" Rory asked, not sure where else to start.

"We're not back to that are we?" Bri whined.

"It's a fair question to ask when you're trying to deicide whether or not to accept a date," Rory defended.

"I don't know. I mean he's nice, but I don't want the date to go bad and then it be weird when I see him. I mean I'm friends with you, I'm bound to see him," Bri tried to explain.

"And it would be so not weird the next time you see him if you say no?" Rory questioned. Bri looked at her shocked, not having thought of that before. "And besides, that didn't answer my question," Rory pointed out.

"Fine! Yes, I like him," Bri admitted.

Rory smiled at the confession, "So tell him yes."

"I feel like I need to talk to him about some things before we go out," Bri said.

"How about this, accept his offer, but make time to talk to him while you guys are out," Rory supplied.

"I guess that would work, but I don't want him to have expectations from me on the date," Bri said.

"I don't think that is what Finn is going for with this. What did he say when he called?"

"That he had been thinking about asking me out for a while, but when he had fun talking to me on Friday, he decided to go for it."

"Okay, so just have fun and talk to him," Rory explained, trying to calm down Bri.

"You think?" Bri asked, still skeptical.

"Yes, now call him back," Rory ordered.

Bri took out her phone, scrolled through her contacts and selected Finn's number.

"Hello," he greeted.

"Hi Finn, it's Bri."

"So doll, do you have an answer for me?" Finn asked, trying to hide how anxious he was.

"Yes, my answer is yes," Bri said calmly, looking at Rory who just smiled.

"Good," he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You said Saturday right? What time?" Bri asked, needing to know the details.

"Well I was hoping to take you somewhere and then have dinner, so how about I pick you up at 2," Finn offered.

"Sounds good, so where are we going?"

"That doll, is a surprise," he said, his smirk evident in his voice.

"But how will I know what to wear?" Bri tried.

Instead of answering, Finn said, "I have to get back to work, I'll call you later for directions."

"Sure…goodbye Finn," Bri said shyly.

"Bye doll."

Bri looked up to see Rory smirking at her so said, "I don't know why you're looking at me like that, you have to help me figure out what to wear."

"Why?" Rory questioned, knowing full well that Finn would plan a date with a girl he really liked the same way Logan and Colin did…and make it a surprise.

"He won't tell me where he's taking me!" Bri exclaimed exasperated. Rory burst out laughing.

"I can do that. I may be an expert for dressing for a mystery date," Rory assured her through her laughing, still happy about the impending date.

"What are you smiling and laughing about? The date could be a total bust, how did you talk me into this again?" Bri ranted, her doubts coming back to her.

"I'm laughing because Logan plans surprise dates all the time, and I react the same way you do. And, I'm smiling because I think you two would be cute together, and I did not talk you into this. You like Finn, you were just letting your past keep you from giving him a chance," Rory explained.

Bri nodded, knowing she was right, "What do you think he'll say?"

Knowing what she was talking about, Rory thought for a minute before saying, "I think Finn is a good guy, and you should stop worrying about it until it happens. There is nothing you can do to predict or control his reaction."

Bri sighed, "I guess. So now you need to give us a new topic, or I'm going to go crazy thinking about it."

"Well lucky for you, we have work to do," Rory said, pulling out some notes.

"Wasn't exactly what I was going for," Bri joked.

--

Friday afternoon Rory walked over to Mike's office to hand in her articles.

"How exactly did Huntzberger help with this?" he asked, needing to know before he could spread the word around the office.

"He put me in contact with someone familiar with the issue. It saved a lot of research time so I could get more interviews in. It was extremely helpful," Rory said, trying to sound sincere. Yes, Colin was helpful, but not necessary. She just wanted to keep Mike off her back. Rory finished going through her email and tying up all her work before going home for the weekend.

The first thing Rory did after walking in the front door was head to bedroom to change and was surprised to see an outfit and a note lying on the bed. She picked up the note first and read:

_Ace, _

_It's been far too long since we've been on a date. _

_Get ready and put on what I have laid out, but be ready by **6:30**, we can't be late! _

_Love, Logan_

She then inspected the outfit: a new sundress and matching shoes along with the white gold necklace, bracelet and earring he had bought her while in England. She looked at the clock, saw it was 5:15, and nearly ran to the shower.

She finished putting on her final touch with 2 minutes to spare and walked out of the bedroom only to see Logan sitting on the couch.

"Hi," she greeted, walking over and giving him a kiss.

"You look beautiful," he complimented and took a moment to look her over, then said, "Now, time to go," and placed a hand on her back, leading her from the apartment.

"Logan where are we going? And why such a rush, the restaurant won't care if we're 5 minutes late."

"Who said we are going to a restaurant?"

"You better be feeding me," she warned.

"Do I look suicidal?" He asked with a raised eyebrow while they rode the elevator.

"Silly me," she teased as they walked to where Frank was waiting by the car.

The drive took about 15 minutes, and when they exited, Frank handed Logan a very large duffle bag. Rory would have to admit, confused didn't even begin to explain her thoughts right now. Logan led her into a park where other people were already gathered. They walked until Logan seemed to find the spot he was looking for, and when he did, he opened the bag and pulled out a blanket and laid it on the ground. Next came some pillows and another blanket. When he had put everything out to his liking he sat down and brought Rory with him having her sit between his legs while resting on his chest.

"So are you going to explain now?" she whispered into his ear.

"There is this festival they've been having all week, where each night they show 2 movies on a big screen they set up," he said, while pointing to where the screen was.

"So what is the movie?" Rory asked curious.

"Well I was looking through the _Village Voice_ earlier this week to see what kind of content they had when I saw a listing of all the movies and this one caught my eye. I thought you would enjoy it, plus I know how you love town festivals," he said.

"Logan, just tell me what movie this is," Rory whined.

"Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory," he said with a smile.

"Really?" she squealed.

"Yes, really. Now see why we didn't want to be late."

"Yep, but why am I in a dress?"

"Because as you said, I have to feed you. We are going for a late dinner afterwards."

Rory seemed content before she thought of something, but knowing Logan, he had thought of it already, "Logan, we can't watch this movie without candy…"

Logan rolled his eyes, but was happy he remembered. Pulling the bag over, he revealed an assortment of candy and a thermos of coffee. "Now I know you usually eat more, but you need to save room for dinner."

Rory just smiled, opened the bag of red vines and started bouncing in his lap as the movie screen lit up.

--

The movie was just over an hour and a half, and the two were seated for dinner by 9:00. When the waiter brought them a basket of bread, Logan noticed Rory grab one almost immediately after he left to get the drinks they had just ordered, all the while trying to keep up her manners. Thankfully, Logan had pre-ordered two appetizers so they came out a few minutes later, which helped.

"Hungry there Ace?" Logan teased.

"Not funny! Yes, I'm hungry and the movie was great and all, but I didn't have a big lunch. I was expecting dinner when we usually have it around 6 or 7," Rory tried to rationalize.

"I see your point, but don't act like you aren't hungry most of the time," Logan shot back.

"No, I could eat most of the time, actual hunger is different."

"I see, well I'll write that down for the future," Logan said.

Rory shot him a 'do not patronize me,' look just as the waiter returned to take their order. After he did, they were back to a normal conversation with some pauses to listen to the music being played. Rory was in the middle of comparing and contrasting the two versions of Willy Wonka when she stopped.

"What?" Logan asked, curious as to what made her stop.

"The song," she said.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"It's the song from my grandparent's vow renewal thing. The one we danced to," she explained.

"The one we danced to before we went to the dressing room to have sex, only to be interrupted by your mom, and then have your dad and Luke argue over who had more of a right to kill me?" Logan asked.

"You do remember!" Rory said happily, ignoring the rest of Logan's rant.

"Fine, I remember. What about it?" Logan asked, knowing she wasn't going to let this go.

"Well, one of the things we have to pick is what we want our first dance to be to. And I figured we should get a wedding CD and pick from that, but we should use this one."

"You want me to have flashbacks to my impending castration on our wedding day?" Logan questioned.

"It wasn't that bad," Rory tried.

"For you! You were the precious angel, I was the boy taking advantage of you."

"We're getting married, they don't think that anymore," Rory assured him.

"I know, but this song reminds me of that day," Logan said.

"But, it was the first song we danced to," Rory said with emphasis. Then thinking for a minute, she added, "Plus, it was the song we danced to when we decided to date, so it is significant."

"Do you really want this song?" Logan asked.

"No, but I don't just want some song everyone uses. And, I thought it was nice because it actually has some significance."

"How about this? As of now, we'll use it, but we're going to have to go through music later anyways, so if we find something we like then we can change it."

"Fair enough," Rory said.

They talked about work, the wedding, and Rory told Logan about Finn's date with Bri while they ate. When they were finished with dessert, Rory had said the candy before didn't count, they walked back out to the car. When they arrived home it was getting late so they decided to put on their pajamas, curl up in bed, and watch TV.

During one of the commercials, Rory turned her head to Logan and said, "Thank you for tonight. It was nice; I hadn't realized how long it had been since we went on a real date."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it," Logan said truthfully.

They couple turned their attention back to the TV and before long Logan noticed Rory had fallen asleep. He covered her with the blanket and then situated himself under the covers as well before pulling her into his chest. He then kissing her head and mumbled, "Night Ace," before falling asleep himself.

--

_A/N: Please review! Now, a few words on the chapter:_

_First, I hope you don't think I'm writing Rory too out of character. In my mind her confidence would increase (especially with things like sex) the longer they dated, so I hope you enjoyed it. _

_Second, I added the first scene (where Bri tells Rory about what happened at the club) because a lot of people seemed to question her behavior and I wanted to be clear. I did write, 'virtually being groped,' last chapter so it was never my intent for you to think she was just letting some guy feel her up and not care. So basically, I'm hope this cleared things up, but if you have any questions about that (or something else that doesn't seem clear) please ask!_


	18. Pretty Pretty Princess

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls _

_A/N: I want to thank EVERYONE for their reviews. I try to reply to some every chapter, to those of you who have reviewed to almost all of them (an extra thanks), but if I didn't just take this as a giant thanks! _

_I hope you enjoy this chapter because it has been stuck in my head (and begging to be written) since I was on chapter 4 or 5. _

--

Rory walked up to the apartment and knocked on the door, which swung open to reveal a wet haired Bri in a bathrobe. Bri quickly ushered her inside and showed her around before winding up in her bedroom.

"Where are Madelyn and Rebecca?" Rory asked, wondering if they would around to also help Bri get ready for the date.

"They went out for the afternoon. An effort to give me some peace while I get ready," Bri said with an eye roll.

Rory noticed half of Bri's closet was thrown across her bed, an obvious attempt to find something to wear, and said, "I guess it's just you and me. What do you know about the date?"

"Just that he is picking me up at 2:00, and we will be eating dinner while we're out," Bri offered.

"That's not helpful," Rory said, annoyed with the guys' obsession with surprises.

"I know!" Bri practically yelled.

"So did you have anything in mind?" Rory asked, noticing some clothes had been put into piles.

"No idea. I have a bunch of pants over there," she said, while pointing to a section of the bed, "skirts there, and shirts here."

"Okay, you need something comfortable, but that looks nice. We have to assume you're not going anywhere fancy because even he would know to specify," Rory reasoned, knowing that Finn would at least give her a head's up if Bri needed to wear something more formal if he didn't send an outfit over for Bri himself like Logan always did.

"True…so any other ideas?" Bri asked, looking lost.

Rory started scanning the bed and said, "No shorts, they're too casual."

"Yeah, but it's humid out today. Pants would be hot, and I don't know if I want to be stuck in a skirt for a day of the unknown," Bri argued.

"I agree," Rory offered and continued her search, "Oh! How about this pair of linen Capri's?"

Bri saw what she was pointing at and nodded, "Looks good, but what shirt?"

Rory started going over the options hoping to find something cute, but also a little sexy. It didn't help she had no idea what would fit those requirements. It was a few minutes before something caught her eye. It was a loose fitting deep green silk halter top. Rory knew that it was a dress top for under a suit but with the Capri's, Bri would look casual but dressy enough for dinner.

She picked it up and turned to Bri, who looked unsure at the choice, so explained, "This will keep you cool, look cute, be comfortable, but it also is a bit dressy so will work for dinner."

Bri looked at it again, but knew Rory was right so she relented, asking, "What shoes?"

Eventually, they found a pair of sandals that matched, and Bri swore they were one of her favorites to walk around in, which was good. They decided to leave her hair curly, putting some gel in it to keep the frizz factor to a minimum, but pinning some pieces back to keep them off her face.

The final step was for Bri to put on some make-up and change. As she was searching for a bracelet, a knock was at the door, so she asked Rory to answer it.

--

Finn wasn't sure what it meant, but he couldn't remember ever being this excited for a date. He walked up to the address Bri had given him and, with a reassuring deep breath, knocked. He was shocked, but a bit relieved, when the door was opened by Rory.

He was still standing in the door way when he heard her laugh and ask, "Surprised to see me?"

Finn smiled, "Yeah, so is Bri here?"

"She is, just give her a minute. I was here helping her get ready and wanted to see the finished product before I left," Rory confessed and walked to Bri's door and knocked.

Bri opened the door and asked, "Can you clip it?" holding out her wrist and the illusive bracelet.

Rory took it and did as asked, and said, "Finn's here, so I'm going to leave. You look great, just relax and have fun."

Bri gave a nervous laugh and said, "You make it sound so easy." She gave her friend a hug and a quick _thank you_ before looking herself over once more while trying to calm down.

--

Finn was still standing near the front door when he saw Rory reemerge from what he assumed was Bri's room. She walked up to him, kissed his cheek, and said, "Good luck Finn."

Finn simply muttered, "Thanks," and went back to fidgeting.

After a few minutes passed, he heard Bri enter the room and looked up to take in her appearance. He had to smile because one, she looked beautiful and two, she looked nervous which he was finding oddly comforting at the moment.

"Doll, you look absolutely smashing," Finn greeted, with a kiss to her cheek.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Ready to go?" he questioned.

"Yep," Bri said leading him out the door and locking it, "so, where are we going?"

Finn laughed and decided to toy with her by asking, "Are you afraid of heights?"

"No," Bri answered unsurely, glancing at Finn trying to figure out what that meant. "Are we going to the Empire State Building?"

"Why would I take you there on a date?" Finn asked, trying to follow the logic behind the guess, but glad the date wasn't starting off with any awkward silences.

"Fine, the Statue of Liberty?" Bri continued, determined to figure it out.

"No," Finn stated, but they had reached his car. Finn opened the door for Bri allowing her to get in before closing it behind her, but not before she gave him a raised eyebrow.

Finn walked around to the driver's side, and upon starting the car asked, "Is there something wrong with opening the door for you Doll?"

"No, nothing wrong, just wasn't expecting that," Bri said truthfully.

"And why is that?" Finn questioned, not sure what else she expected him to do.

Bri noticed he was actually being serious and pointed out, "You know we're not living in the Victorian Era, right?"

"Hey! I resent that, I am perfectly aware of the year!" Finn got out in mock seriousness.

"I just meant you don't have to go out of your way to do all of that," Bri tried to reason. It's not that it wasn't nice; She just wasn't sure what to say or how to act when he did it.

"Is there something wrong with wanting to be a gentleman?" Finn wondered, wanting to know why she was reacting like this.

"No, it's just not that common. You don't need to make a big show of everything; I'm already on a date with you."

"Colin and Logan do it too," Finn whined, almost like when kids 'tell' on each other.

Bri laughed at his response, "No one said they were normal either."

"In all fairness, it's engrained into our behavior," Finn offered and then added, "And, I'm telling them you said that!"

Shaking her head, but now curious, Bri asked, "How did that happen?"

"Our parents made us attend an etiquette class twice a week during a portion of grades 6, 7, and 8," Finn whispered as if it was a secret. He was happy to be having this conversation, which was also serving to distract Bri from figuring out their destination too soon for his liking.

"What! Why!" Bri exclaimed.

"So we would behave properly in public and not embarrass them," Finn regurgitated, mimicking the reasons they had been given at the time. Bri looked at him, not sure if he was being serious so he added, "Those were on Tuesday and Thursday. Ballroom dancing was on Mondays and Wednesdays."

"You ballroom dance?" Bri asked surprised.

"Yes, but I don't do it often," Finn explained.

"Fair enough, so what did they teach you at etiquette class?" Bri asked, now just curious.

"Open doors for ladies, what the different silverware, plates, glasses are used for – not to mention how to eat properly at the table, stand when someone enters or exits a room, how to greet friends or acquaintances in different social settings, how to escort a lady for an evening – but that was primarily for coming out parties…"

"And you learned this all in middle school?" Bri asked, wanting to make sure she was clear.

"Yes Doll, and stop looking at me like that," Finn said, squirming under her gaze.

"Fine, so what about bungee jumping?" Bri guessed, changing back to the original subject.

"Really, that's your guess?" Finn asked, looking at her like she was crazy.

"Well you seem like someone who would try it," Bri stated.

"I've done it, but for a first date?"

"No? Okay, maybe skydiving?" She asked.

"I'd be more likely to take you bungee jumping," Finn retorted.

"Well, you're the one who asked if I was afraid of heights," she accused.

"I know…to humor you. But, never mind we're here anyways," he said, while parking and pointing out the window.

" Coney Island? Ahh, rollercoasters…" Bri realized.

"I thought it would be fun, but if you've don't want to, I'm sure we can find something else," Finn offered quickly.

"Actually, I've never been here before," Bri said, while giving him a small smile.

"Just because you haven't had a chance or because you don't like amusement parks?" Finn questioned, still unsure about his choice. He had called Colin and Logan to see what idea they liked for the date. They had both picked this one because they reasoned the two could talk, but there was also enough going on to keep them from too many weird silences.

"Because I've been busy and have only lived here about 6 months. But if it makes you feel any better, while I was growing up, we went to an amusement park almost every year," Bri explained, hoping it would make Finn relax.

"Good to know," Finn said, getting out of the car and going over to her side to help her out. When he offered her his hand, she rolled her eyes, but took it anyways. Finn placed a hand on her back as they walked towards the entrance. Finn stepped up to the ticket window while Bri looked at a map of the park.

"How many?" the worker asked.

"Two please," Finn answered. The worker nodded and told him the total to which Finn handed over his credit card. After he signed, he was handed his tickets and receipt so he stepped away. As he did so, he saw Bri take his place at the window.

"What ya doing?" Finn asked in a sing song voice.

"Buying a ticket," she said seriously. At this, Finn reached out and pulled her out of line while looking at her like she was crazy.

"I already bought you one," he explained, seeing her confused face.

"Finn, you didn't have to do that," Bri tried.

"Nonsense, and just a word of advice: You'll save a lot of breath if you just accept that this is my date so I'll be paying."

"So if I ask you out, then you'll let me pay," she asked, trying to figure out his logic.

"No," he said quickly.

Bri shook her head, but asked, "So where to first?"

"Seeing as you're a Cyclone virgin, I'd say there," Finn said, thinking through what the park had to offer.

"Lead the way," Bri cheered happily. Once they reached it, they saw it was a 30 minute wait, needing to kill the time Bri asked, "Does your family live here?"

"What?" Finn asked, his mind had been wandering.

"Your family, are they in the US or back in Australia?" she clarified.

"Sorry I was distracted for a moment. Australia, but we moved here when I was 10 for what was supposed to be 2 years. Well, my parents ended up staying for 4. When they said we had to move back, I begged them to let me stay and go to high school with the other 3. At first, they were against it, but when I told them everyone else was going to a boarding school they agreed. I've been here ever since," he explained.

"Do you go back often?" Bri questioned, the farthest she had ever lived from her parents was now, and it was only a few hours drive home.

"I try to go once a year, but I see my parents at least twice each year regardless of location," Finn offered, then asked, "What about you?"

"My parents live just outside of Albany and have all my life so it's pretty regular, more so when I was working in Albany."

Finn nodded and thought for a moment before asking, "So I know you live with your sister, but any other siblings?"

"Yep, I have a sister going into her senior year of high school," Bri acknowledged, but knowing there was more she should say but held off thinking to herself, 'No, you don't want to make it weird for the rest of the date. Wait until it's almost over, then you can go home and not make him feel like he's bailing on you.'

They continued to talk about what Bri would later dub, _typical first date conversation,_ until finally getting their turn on the ride. When it was finished, they walked through the exit and went to see how their picture had turned out. Finn spotted it first and started laughing. Finn was grinning from ear to ear and looking fairly relaxed, Bri appeared to be laughing but also had a firm grip on his hand. When he noticed that in the picture, he looked down and, sure enough, he still had a grasp on her hand with no intention of dropping it anytime soon.

When Bri looked at the photo, she was a little embarrassed, mostly because of the look on her face, but then noticed their hands were joined both in the picture and currently. She was going to try and cover it up, when she realized Finn didn't seem anxious to pull away. And, admitting to herself that holding his hand felt nice, she decided to act as if she didn't notice.

"We should get a copy," Finn said.

"It's such a rip off," Bri argued.

"Yeah, but it's funny. Come on…" he pouted, trying to get his way.

"It's your choice," she pointed out.

Giving a triumphant smile and striding up to the counter, he bought it. They went on the bumper cars, another roller coaster, and tilt-a-whirl all the while making small talk. Next up, they went to the game area and tried their hand at the ridiculous, yet typical, games they had.

Once they finished there, Finn saw the time and knew they should leave soon to make their dinner reservation – not that Finn couldn't be late with his last name, but he wanted to appear normal to Bri. They were on their way out when, after a few minutes of begging, Finn convinced Bri they should go on the Ferris wheel as their final activity.

They sat down and began their accent.

"Are you having fun Doll?" Finn inquired.

"I am," Bri said with a nod.

"So a successful first date?" he pushed.

"Is it over?" Bri asked confused.

"No, we still have dinner. Just wondering how I was doing," Finn said honestly.

"Definitely one of my more successful first dates," Bri said quietly, but smiling.

"Glad to hear it," he said and ran his thumb across her palm. They sat in a comfortable silence, until the ride came to a stop signaling the end. Finn led Bri out to the car and drove to dinner.

--

They arrived at a Japanese restaurant after about a thirty minute drive and were seated almost immediately at the table Finn had reserved. A waiter came out to take their drink order and to tell them their chef would be out shortly.

Bri was surprised by the last statement and asked, "Why is the chef coming out?"

"Because this is a Hibachi restaurant, they cook in front of you," Finn said pointing to another area where there was a chef cooking in front of a table of people.

"Exciting," Bri said, looking around the restaurant to see various chefs cooking.

Their chef came out and introduced himself before taking their orders. He returned with the necessary ingredients and started preparing the meal with all the usual spectacle. After about 20 minutes, he finished and excused himself, leaving them to their meal.

They began to eat as Bri talked about the different things the chef had done while he cooked. Her favorite had been the fire. He stacked the rings of an onion, filled it with an oil of some sort and then lit it on fire creating a volcano effect.

As she talked about it, Finn interjected, "Are you a pyro? Should I be concerned for my safety?"

She laughed and said, "No, it was just cool!" and went back into making small talk about the food. She was interrupted by her cell phone ringing about twenty minutes later.

Glancing at the display, she gave Finn a quick, "Excuse me," before picking up.

"Rebecca?...Pretty good, but what do you need?...Do you know what's wrong?...Okay, I'm on my way. Tell her I'll be right there…bye," Bri quickly hung up her phone and stood up.

"Doll, is something wrong?" Finn inquired, having grown more worried as the ambiguous phone call had continued.

"I'm so sorry, but I have to go. Something came up at home, and I need to go," she offered and started rushing towards the door. Finn quickly threw 200 dollars on the table, knowing it would easily cover the bill, before going after her.

When he reached the sidewalk, he spotted Bri attempting to hail a cab. Walking up to her, he grabbed her hand, walking her towards his car, and said, "I'll drive you."

"Finn, I can take a cab," Bri said, not wanting to inconvenience him.

"This is faster," he stated, not leaving room for questions.

"Thanks," she whispered, as they both climbed in his car. Finn glanced over at Bri and was worried something was seriously wrong, but was afraid to ask her about it. He started driving towards her apartment when he realized he wasn't even sure if that's where she needed to go.

"Are we going to your apartment?" Finn asked in a soothing voice. Bri continued to stare out the window, but nodded in response.

Bri became more impatient and almost jumped out of the car as he parked. She noticed Finn was getting out too and was going to protest, but the thought was washed away as she neared the stairs. When she reached her apartment, she rushed in with Finn behind her and went into the living room.

As soon as Bri walked around the corner, she saw who she was looking for and was rewarded with the all too familiar cry of, 'Mommy!'

She was sitting next to her daughter immediately and looked her over. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"My tummy hurts," the little girl replied with tears in her eyes.

"Anything else?" Bri said now looking at both her daughter and sister.

"I'm cold."

"She's been nauseous a few times and has a fever," Rebecca explained.

Bri nodded, "Have you given her anything?"

"I wasn't sure what to give her, so no. I mean she was fine and then all of a sudden it hit her, I called you as soon as I had her settled on the couch with a garbage can just in case. Is there something I should have given her?" Rebecca asked, not knowing since she didn't have much experience with sick kids.

"I'm not really sure what I have to give her. So no, you did fine," Bri said, while rubbing her daughters back. Needing her to calm down, she asked, "Hey sweetie why are you crying?"

"I don't like being sick," she said, while sniffing her nose.

"Please don't cry," Bri said, not liking to see her like this. "You know princesses don't cry," Bri tried, knowing of her love for Disney movies.

"I'm not a princess," she said in a fading voice.

Bri continued to comfort her daughter, not looking up until she heard the front door open. She knew Finn had walked in behind her and was going to explain after she got everything else settled, but now saw he was no longer there.

Rebecca saw why Bri was staring and offered, "I'm sorry about interrupting your date."

Bri let out a long sigh, "It's okay, I just wish I told him about Maddy before we got here. I wasn't even thinking on the car ride here."

"So before this happened, how was it?" Rebecca asked, knowing how many failed dates her sister had been on in recent years.

"Good, really good. We went to Coney Island and then out to a Japanese restaurant," Bri almost whispered and pulled out the picture from The Cyclone to show Rebecca. Finn had given it to her as they left, insisting since it was her first time on the famous rollercoaster she keep it.

Rebecca saw the disappointment on Bri's face and didn't know what to say. The two sat, watching Maddy, lost in their separate thoughts.

--

Finn had to run up the steps to keep up with Bri. He had no clue what was wrong, but felt a need to make sure everything was alright. He followed her into her apartment and was shocked to see a little girl on the couch and even more surprised to hear her scream 'Mommy,' at the appearance of Bri.

He stood transfixed watching the scene before him, half listening and half digesting the new information. The little girl was a spitting image of Bri, except with strawberry blond hair instead of the deeper shade like her mother, but it was just as curly.

Finn processed what they were saying and saw how uncomfortable the girl looked. At the mention of an upset stomach and fever, he felt bad, remembering how much he hated getting sick when he was younger. He noticed that Bri and Rebecca seemed to be fusing with her comfort, so not knowing what else to do and having seen a drug store at the corner, went for supplies.

--

Bri had just finished taking her temperature, which was currently at 101.8, when she heard the door open again. A little scared because she wasn't expecting anyone, she slowly made her way into the kitchen. When she got close enough to see in, she saw the last person she expected.

"Finn?" she asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"Yes Doll?"

"What are you doing? You left?" Bri stated, hating to point that out, but she still felt the disappointment when he had left like that and now wasn't sure why he was back.

"To go to the drug store," Finn said, pointing at the bags he had, "You said you didn't have anything to give her so I went to get something."

"Why?" Bri asked, still cautious.

"I didn't think you would want to leave her, and I felt like I should do something," Finn stated.

"I'm sorry Finn," Bri said quietly, "I was going to tell you. I just didn't get to it before the phone call and then my mind was freaking out wanting to get back. It's the first time she's been sick like this."

Finn let his mind go back to see if he missed her saying she had a daughter and came up blank until he remembered, "Is this why you said there were things we didn't know about each other?"

"Mostly, but it was true. I mean I always had fun talking to you, but it never was personal," Bri said.

"Until today," Finn added, remembering all the things they discussed. Bri wasn't sure what to say so she just nodded in response.

After a few moments Finn asked, "How come you never mentioned her to anyone?"

"I told Rory," Bri offered.

"Really?" Finn asked, a little surprised by the confession.

"Yeah, we were talking about families, and she said growing up it was just her and her mom so I thought she'd understand without pushing too much besides we have become good friends. I'm not ashamed of her or embarrassed. Just when I tell people, they start asking questions, and as much as I love her, I don't like to talk about how I got into this position. I wouldn't give her up for the world, but that doesn't mean I'm proud of my choices at the time either."

Finn actually got what she was trying to say and said, "You sound like Lorelai."

"Is that a good thing?" Bri asked. She knew who Lorelai was, but wasn't sure what the comment meant.

"She always said she wouldn't change having Rory, but that didn't mean she'd go around telling 15 year old girls to have sex. She made a choice which had consequences and dealt with it. She says it worked out for her, but wouldn't wish the circumstances on anyone else."

Bri smiled, that was a good way to put it, and said, "I really am sorry Finn."

Finn looked back towards the direction of the family room and said, "I know and we have more to talk about, but just get her taken care of for now. I bought Children's Tylenol for the fever and crackers, apple juice, and some chicken broth for her upset stomach. Then, there's apple sauce and cinnamon, cause it makes apple sauce so much better, for when she's feeling a little better," he said, as he carried the bags towards the other room.

"Finn you don't have to stay," Bri called after him.

"I want to. We need to talk, and besides, we didn't get to finish our date," he said, giving her a smirk. He walked into the living room to see a surprised looking Rebecca, he assumed her look came from the fact that he was there, and a miserable patient.

Bri walked up behind Finn and said, "Finn I'd like you to meet Madelyn Rose Carter, my daughter and Rebecca, my sister. Girls, this is Finn, he's a friend of mine."

"Hi," Maddy said shyly, while Rebecca just gave a smile.

"Hey Baby Doll, how are you feeling?" he asked, not sure what else to say.

"My tummy hurts," she said, repeating what she had said earlier.

Finn handed one of the bags to Bri, who pulled out the Tylenol first. She was measuring it out, but had to ask, "Baby Doll?"

"What?" Finn asked defensively, then explained, "You're Doll so that makes her Baby Doll," as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I think it's cute," Rebecca offered.

Bri gave Maddy the medicine and looked through the bags, surprised to see everything he bought to help the flu. "Finn how did you know what to get?"

Finn gave her a smile before saying, "An upset stomach, whether caused by alcohol or a virus, is handled the same way. Only since she has the later, she doesn't need tacos."

"Tacos?" Bri said, unsure of why you would _EVER_ give that to someone as a cure for an upset stomach.

"Part of the genius of the Lorelai's, they taught me what an excellent hangover cure they are," Finn said proudly.

"So you have a lot of hangovers?" Bri asked.

"I did in college, only every once in a great while now," Finn said honestly. Not that he didn't like to have a drink, but rarely drank as much as he did a few years ago.

Bri had given Maddy a few crackers and had now stopped, wanting to see if they would make her sick again. When she seemed to be doing okay, she poured some juice.

Finn noticed Bri was done and said, "Baby Doll, I have something else for you to."

The little girl looked at him, still shy of the new face, but said, "What?"

Finn smiled and handed her another bag from the store. She opened it and pulled out what was one top, a box of crayons, and next a coloring book.

Maddy opened it up and said, "Mommy look! Cinderella and Belle and Jasmine and Sleeping Beauty..."

"I see, now what do you say," Bri said, giving her daughter a look.

"Thank you Mr. Finn," Maddy replied, looking up at Finn with her big brown eyes peeking out from under her eyelashes showing that her shyness was coming through again.

"You're welcome, but there is something else in the bag, and it's just Finn" Finn said, pointing back to another bag.

Maddy went down to the ground and pulled out the other item from the bag. She looked it over and asked, "A princess game?"

"You've never played?" Finn said, in an over exaggerated tone. "But this is Pretty Pretty Princess, you need to learn at once!" With that, Finn opened the game and started setting out the pieces.

"Finn, why do you know how to play this game?" Bri asked.

"Because I've played it before," Finn said with a 'duh,' sounding voice.

"With who, and if you tell me Logan, I'm not beneath using that as blackmail," she said seriously and almost started laughing at the picture she had in her head.

"No, not Logan. Rory, Steph and Lorelai at one of their slumber parties."

"They have slumber parties? Better yet why were you at the slumber party?" Bri asked, knowing if nothing else the answer would be entertaining.

"Not as much anymore, but when Logan was in London, they had them more often, and I was there because I showed up and begged to stay before I realized what they were doing. When I did, they wouldn't let me leave and do you know what those evil women did to me?"

"I can only guess, but let's hear it," Bri said laughing.

"I fell asleep on the floor watching a movie, and when I woke up, Steph and Rory had me pinned down and Lorelai was painting my toenails with pink glitter nail polish." At this Bri and Rebecca were laughing, but then he continued, "That wasn't the worst, when I went to the bathroom later I saw I had eye shadow, blush and lipstick on," This sent the two girls over the top.

As he finished setting up the game, he looked at Maddy and said, "Are you ready to play?"

She nodded and then asked, "Aunt Becky, play with me?"

"Of course," she said and took her place near the board.

Finn moved to a side of the board and Maddy looked at him and said, "Finn you can't play."

"Why not?" Finn asked in an indignant voice.

"You're a boy silly," she explained.

Finn wasn't sure what to do, but decided to go for the dramatic, and mustered up fake tears while asking, "But what if I want to be a princess too?"

Maddy look at him unsure, but seemed to be thinking. Eventually she walked over to him and gave him a hug while saying, "Please don't cry Finn!"

As she did, Finn hugged her back and gave an evil yet victorious grin over her shoulder. He pulled back and put his teary face back on, added a pout, and asked, "Does this mean I can play?"

Maddy nodded and walked back over to her spot, while Bri whispered, "That is horrible." Finn only smiled back.

Soon the 4 were engaged in the game. Half way through it was obvious Finn and Maddy were leading, but eventually Maddy came out on top. When she got the crown, she cheered.

Bri looked over at Finn laughing at the clip on earrings, necklace, and ring (that barely fit on the tip of his finger) he had accumulated. The adults cleaned up the game while Maddy went to color.

Noticing the time, Finn said, "Maybe I should get going."

Bri nodded. "Here, I'll walk you out."

Finn stood and said, "Rebecca, nice to meet you. Maddy, I hope you feel better."

Rebecca gave a quick _'You too,'_ response while Maddy just said _'Thank you,'_ again without looking up from her picture.

As they walked out Bri sighed, "I guess it's time for those questions now."

Finn nodded, but before he could ask any, Bri began talking again, "I was dating this guy in college, had been for a few months. I thought it was going good, but when I found out I was pregnant and told him, let's just say he was not happy about it. We broke up that day when he told me to get an abortion because he wouldn't have anything to do with the baby. I knew I wanted to keep her so a few days later I had him sign away all legal rights to her, and I haven't seen him since. Madelyn was born that January, three and a half years ago."

Finn nodded, but didn't say anything. Taking the silence as a sign Bri spoke again, "Thanks though, for what you did tonight. It cheered her up a lot." Again silence, "I know you are mad, but are you going to say anything?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Finn asked, wanting to know.

"At first because I wasn't sure you'd understand, I wasn't really thinking about your tie to Rory. I did think about it when we were talking at the club, but it's so serious, and we were having fun, I didn't want to ruin that. Then today at the park, I knew I would was going to tell you at some point, just figured it would be easier if I did it at the end."

"And why would that be easier?" Finn wondered.

"I've been on dates and seen how they respond when I tell them, it's never good. This way we would be on our way back here, so you wouldn't have to keep pretending to be nice and interested in me after you found out. You could drop me off, and we would go our separate ways without an awkward afternoon," Bri ranted. She hadn't planned on saying all of that, but the words just came out.

"And why would I be pretending?" Finn asked.

"That's what the rest did, but I could tell they wanted to bail the minute they found out," Bri said, past hurts coming back to the surface.

"Who's _they_?" Finn asked, although he was quite sure he knew.

"The couple of guys I've been on dates with since I had Maddy," Bri confessed.

Finn saw how upset she was getting and decided to change the topic slightly, "I had a good time tonight."

"Finn…" she said slowly, not sure what he was trying to do, "you don't have to say that. I practically ran out of dinner on you."

"But before that, at the park and dinner I had fun, didn't you?"

"I did," she admitted.

"And Pretty Pretty Princess wasn't half bad," he teased.

"That was really sweet of you," Bri said, now leaning on the door to her apartment.

"So if I asked you on a second date, would you say yes?" Finn tried while stepping closer. At this point, he was completely unsure of what she would say and thought it was easier asking her out the first time.

"Why?" Bri asked skeptically.

"Because we had a good time," Finn explained simply and moved even closer.

Bri was so distracted thinking about the question she didn't realize Finn's proximity until she felt his hand on her cheek. She looked up and knew what he was going to do, but was still surprised, and jumped a little when he softly pressed his lips to hers. He pulled back slowly but kept his hand where it was.

"I had a really good time," he said again.

Regaining her senses, Bri smiled and said, "Me too."

"So I was thinking I could take you and Maddy to the zoo," Finn offered in a low voice.

"Sounds like fun," Bri said, relaxing into his touch.

"Call me when she's feeling better, and we'll plan it," Finn offered.

"Okay," Bri said, getting lost in the moment.

"So I should really probably go, and you need to get back inside," Finn said, bringing her out of her daze.

"I really had fun today, thank you," Bri said honestly.

"You're welcome," Finn replied, leaning in for another kiss. This time Bri wasn't surprised and kissed him back. The kiss didn't last very long, but definitely had more to it than their first.

"Bye Doll," Finn whispered into her ear and moved away from the door.

"Bye Finn," she said and watched him walk away until he disappeared at the end of the hall.

Bri opened the door of her apartment to see Maddy still coloring, but Rebecca was now at the kitchen table with a pint of ice cream out.

"What's with the Ben and Jerry's?" Bri asked.

"I thought you could use it," Rebecca offered, handing her a spoon. They each took a spoonful and ate it slowly. Finally Rebecca broke, "So are you going to tell me what happened?"

Bri blushed and said, "Well I explained a little, and he understood, and then he told me he had fun today, asked me on a second date, and kissed me."

"How was the kiss?" a now excited Rebecca asked.

"It was sweet, but nice," Bri said, happy that he hadn't tried to make out with her. Not that she was against that, but after everything that happened today, this had been much better.

"Awww, so I'm assuming you said yes to the date."

"I did," Bri said happily.

"When is it?" Rebecca asked, happy for her sister.

"I'm going to call him when Maddy is better, he wants to take us to the zoo," Bri explained. Soon Bri was regaling every part of the day, not skipping a thing from the etiquette classes to when he moved to the US. When they finished, they walked into the next room to find Maddy asleep on the floor. Bri slowly picked her up and took her to her room before making her way to her own for the night.

--

Finn drove back to his apartment happy with how the date had gone. He thought about how easy she was to talk to, whether it was something completely off the wall or more serious.

When he saw her daughter, he wasn't sure how he should feel, especially because she didn't tell him. But after what she said, he knew it hadn't been planned. He still hadn't been sure until he compared her to Lorelai. When he did, some of Lorelai's other words had come to mind, she had once told them once they were lucky (and may have defied statistics) by the fact none of them were fathers yet. Finn knew they all were grateful that was the case. She said she would never understand how some people could use a condom all the time and only have sex a few times and manage to get themselves into a situation while others who have sex much more, sometimes even unprotected sex, never find themselves in that position. She had been teasing the guys, but they all silently knew she was right. Those thoughts helped him accept Bri's situation so he asked her out again.

He got off the elevator on his floor and glanced at Logan's and Rory's soundly shut door. He silently gave a prayer of thanks that he made sure Logan was keeping Rory occupied so he didn't have to answer to her about the date, knowing he could face her better in the morning. As he walked into his apartment, he started mentally planning the trip to the zoo, changed out of his clothes, and put on a movie to watch as he tried to get to sleep.

--

_A/N: So remember the poll about how much Finn you want? Well, this is the one of the results...so I hope you liked it. I apologize for the lack of Rory and Logan, but our favorite couple will be back in full force next chapter, so hang in there. That being said, don't think this story line is going to take over, this date was going to happen this way the entire time it was just a matter of seeing it first hand or hearing about it in summary from Finn and Bri while talking to their friends. Personally, I like it this way and hope you did too! _

_Please review and tell me what you think! _


	19. Not Incompetent

_A/N: A quick note about last chapter. I'm glad most of you liked Bri's 'secret,' as well as Finn's reaction. Also, I know some liked it much more than others, but as the story continues reread it because I think you'll like it more in retrospect. From all the reviews, I got the impression that it was more a disappointment of no Rogan action than not liking what happened on the date. The only reason it happened that way was because I knew how long it was going to be without adding in another story line. That all being said, I have a general outline for the rest of the fic and there is the **possibility** of ONE more chapter lacking our favorite couple, it really is just a matter of chapter length so I have to wait and see. But Rory and Logan are by far the main part of the story, so I hope that eases some fears and assures you I am not going to go on some weird side tangent about Finn! _

_B/N (Beta Note): My beta would like to apologize for the delay in this chapter. Normally she is super awesome and turns chapters around to me in 24-36 hours. However, she (as I may have mentioned) recently moved and all of her furniture and belongings (other than what she could pack on the plane) came just as I was sending her this chapter, so she needed to get settled. She is currently excited about having a real mattress instead of the air one she has been using for almost a month and non-plastic dishware. Since she does do an excellent job editing, as well as brainstorming and even re-writing some sections, I would rather wait for her to go over it before I post (the chapters are much better this way). Anyways, she kept apologizing about how long it took (I kept saying it's no big deal) so I just wanted to pass along the message as well as give her a huge thanks for all her help on my fic! _

--

Logan hung up the phone and sighed. Before the phone call, he and Rory were having a relaxing evening. His father's phone call put an end to that. After finishing his discussion with Mitchum, he realized that he would be going out of town and hoped Rory would agree to his plan

"Ace?" Logan called, figuring it was the easiest way to find her in their apartment.

"I'm in the study," Rory replied, as she checked her email. She received about 10 emails a week from her mother, most of them quite pointless. Her mother really needed to stop forwarding her so many of those.

"So, that was my dad who is on his way to London," Logan stated.

Rory froze when Logan mentioned London, the location having basically been forbidden when they were talking, but didn't want to think the worst, "And?"

"He was supposed to be going to some big fundraiser out in San Francisco. He scheduled meetings with 2 or 3 of our papers for when he was supposed to be there, but something came up, and now he has to go to London" Logan explained.

"When do you leave?" Rory asked. Ever since her freak out, she had calmed down considerably to the idea of him going away on business trips.

"I have meetings Thursday and Friday, then the dinner is Friday night," Logan said, noting it was already Tuesday.

"So you leave tomorrow? What time?" Rory questioned, hoping she would at least get to see him after work.

"I haven't decided yet, I needed to talk to you first," he said with a smirk.

Rory sighed, "Logan I'm fine. I know you have to travel, I'm okay with that."

"Look who has the ego now," Logan teased. He walked over to her and pulled her out of the chair enough to sit under her. Once she was settled in his lap, he spoke again, only this time with a much more serious tone, "I'm glad you're okay with this. But, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

Rory leaned her head back onto his shoulder and asked, "What did you need?"

"I was wondering if you would like to go," Logan asked quietly.

"What?" Rory screeched. She almost jumped out of his lap, but he had his arms firmly around her waist.

"Come with me. I like it better when you're with me," Logan said, knowing how cheesy it sounded.

"That's sweet Logan, but I have work," Rory replied.

"So how about the other reason, my dad promised to fill 2 seats at the benefit dinner, and I was hoping you would accompany me, you know, save me from the boredom."

"Not quite as sweet, but I still have work," she argued.

"But you can take time off, I'm almost positive the company allows it," he joked.

"True, but I have 2 articles this week. I have one interview tomorrow and another Thursday, then I have to write the articles," Rory reasoned.

"When's the soonest you could finish?" Logan asked.

"Well if I finish my first article tomorrow after the interview I should be able to finish the second one on Thursday," Rory said, while appearing in deep thought.

"So you could fly out Thursday night?" Logan asked, sounding hopeful.

Rory sighed, "You really want me to come that badly?"

"I am the official rep from Huntzberger publishing at this thing. Yes, I need you to keep me sane," Logan stated, while kissing the back of her neck.

"I guess if I don't get it finished I can always write Friday morning at the hotel and email it to Mike," Rory said, knowing she wouldn't like going to some function alone.

"I'll book you a flight," Logan offered, then kissed his way to her ear and whispered, "thank you Ace."

--

Rory walked into _The Observer,_ having just finished her interview, ready to focus, she really wanted to finish both of her articles before flying out to California. She had talked to Mike earlier that morning, and he agreed to give her Friday off if at least one article was in by the end of the day on Thursday, and he saw a rough draft of the second. Seeing as she was planning on having both done, she thought this was beyond reasonable.

She glanced around the office and spotted Bri. She hadn't been at work on Monday, so Rory called to see if everything was alright, plus she had been dying to hear about Bri's date with Finn. It turned out the Madelyn's fever was an early symptom of chicken pox, so she was staying home with Maddy. The nausea hadn't returned, other than the first incident on Saturday evening, so Bri figured it could have been something Maddy ate. Bri had come in for a few hours on Tuesday to go out with another reporter, but had left soon after lunch to get back to Maddy, which didn't give them much of a chance to talk.

Rory went to say hi before getting to work, "Bri!"

"Hey, how are you?" Bri offered cheerily, but Rory could sense the fatigue in her voice.

"I'm okay, how is Maddy?" Rory questioned, hoping the little girl was feeling better.

"Still itchy, but other than that, her fever broke, and she's feeling much better," Bri stated.

"So I've been dying to ask, how was the date?" Rory asked, trying to hide her excitement.

Bri laughed, "Good, really good."

"So Finn didn't get upset or anything?" Rory pushed, Finn had been avoiding her questions since Sunday.

"It's a long story, but the short answer is no," Bri said, smiling at how the night ended.

"Okay, but I want details later!" Rory demanded, knowing she needed to get to work and Bri was still playing catch up from being out for 2 days.

"How about lunch Saturday?"

"Can't, I'm going to San Francisco," Rory said apologetically.

"What for?" Bri asked, curious about the sudden trip.

"_Mac_," Rory stated, the teasing evident in her voice as she said the name, "has some meetings, but then has a charity dinner to attend and wanted me to come with him."

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow after work, he flies out tonight," Rory answered.

Hearing her name being called by another reporter, Bri sighed, "Gotta get back to work, and call me for those details." Bri walked over and was quickly pulled into an animated discussion.

Rory laughed, watching as her friend was immediately pulled back into work, and started on her article. By the time 4:30 rolled around, Rory was placing the finished piece in Mike's hand's, who just nodded in response, and headed home.

--

Logan had enough time to have a quick bite to eat with Rory before having to leave for the airport. He spent the flight reviewing figures he should know before his meeting started in the morning. Once he landed, he was met by a driver and taken to his hotel. The next day was spent traveling to the Huntzberger Media regional office to look at the progress each paper had made since his father's last visit over a year ago and discuss methods to increase circulation. He finally made it back to his room to wait for the call to say Rory had landed. Knowing she would not have had much time to eat before her flight left, Logan ordered an assortment of Chinese and pizza. He had just finished spreading it all out when he heard a knock on the door.

Standing, Logan made his way over to the door. "Hey Ace, how was your flight?" Logan asked while greeting her with a kiss.

"It was fine, they gave me coffee," Rory said happily. She looked around the room before spotting the food and exclaiming, "You made dinner my way! You won't be an incompetent husband."

"All this food and all I get is 'not incompetent,' not even 'good,' or 'great,' or what about god-like?" Logan asked, wondering about the rating system she had developed.

"I stand by not incompetent," Rory said seriously after looking around the room one more time.

"Care to share how I can get a higher rating?" Logan teased.

"You offer no coffee…I mean really Logan, you should know better by now. Coffee plus the food would get you a good."

Logan pulled a tray with 4 coffees out from its hiding spot and just smirked at her.

Rory threw him a playful glare, "Fine you get your good, happy?"

"What about great, or better yet my favorite, god-like?" Logan questioned.

"Logan, I'm sorry but unless your body has recently gained the ability to grow coffee beans that tier cannot be reached," Rory said while picking up a box of fried rice.

Logan just sighed and went for a slice of pizza. The couple continued to eat and talk about their days before finally making it to bed.

As they climbed in Logan said, "I have meetings all day tomorrow, but since they are for multiple papers, and the editors were going to be in the area for the dinner anyways, they're being held in a conference room downstairs."

"Okay," Rory said with a yawn.

"So you can sleep in and relax. I'll try to meet you for lunch, but I can't make and promises."

"Mhmm," Rory replied, curling up next to Logan.

"And we need to be ready to go by 6:30, so we get there by 7:00," Logan added on, hoping she was still with him.

"Night Logan," Rory mumbled, while also effectively ending the conversation.

Logan had to laugh at her ability to sleep so well after having so much coffee, "Night Ace."

--

Logan was awoken the next morning by his alarm to find himself intertwined with Rory. He slowly made his way from her embrace and went through his morning routine which had him walking into the conference room at almost exactly 8:00.

His first meeting was with the editors from the Huntzberger paper in San Jose, the Mercury News, which went smoothly and was finished by 10:15. This gave him a 15 minute break before he was due to start his meeting with the San Francisco Chronicle, which would hopefully be over by 12:30. Then, he had an hour for lunch scheduled before he had a conference call with his father to bring him up to speed.

Logan was still looking over his schedule when he noticed people entering the room. He glanced up and stood to great them.

"Mr. Huntzberger, I presume," an older gentleman said, "I'm Jeff Mallone, managing editor."

"Good to meet you," Logan offered, extending his hand. Jeff proceeded to introduce the senior staff that was with him and started the meeting. They had gone over key features the paper had printed recently and were now looking at the demographics of the people who had the paper delivered to try and increase the number of subscriptions. It was during this discussion that a knock on the door was heard.

Logan glanced around the table to see everyone looking as surprised as him, so he said, "Come in." The door opened to reveal a still pajama clad Rory holding a bag and a tray of coffee.

"Ace?" Logan asked, confused then checked his watch. Nope only 11:13, he wasn't late for lunch, even if her outfit hadn't made that abundantly clear.

"Hey Logan," she said, obviously embarrassed.

"Do you need something?" Logan questioned, trying to maintain professionalism in this bizarre situation.

"Ummm, I sort of locked myself out," Rory answered.

"How?" Logan asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"Well I woke up and realized I had no coffee or donuts," she started, gesturing to the goods in her hand, "So in a sleep filled daze, I went in search. It wasn't until I got on the elevator that I realized you never gave me a key last night and since you are…well you, the front desk wouldn't give me a new one."

Logan shook his head and dug in his pocket to retrieve his and offered it to her, "Yours is on top of the T.V., bring them both down when we meet for lunch."

Rory nodded and then asked, "What time?"

"12:30."

"Okay," Rory said and then remembered they weren't alone and quickly added, "See you then Huntzberger," and left.

Logan turned back to the group in front of him and resumed the conversation where they left off. The meeting was running smoothly until their next interruption came in the form of Jeff's cell phone. He wasn't going to answer, but noticed the call was from the office so he picked up. After a fairly short conversation in which the whole group watched his demeanor go from fairly relaxed to panicked, he hung up.

"Is something wrong?" Logan asked.

"The main server at the paper crashed. I.T. isn't sure how long it will take to fix, but said they can bring in a temporary replacement until it does, problem is we still can't get to the data on the main one," Jeff said, in what Logan suspected may have only been one breath.

"What's the plan?" another editor asked.

"The new server should be set up and ready to go in about 30 minutes, and then, they are going to start over. Mr. Huntzberger, we're going to have to head back to the paper."

Logan knew they would have to, but asked, "Mind if I tag along?"

"Of course sir," Jeff said politely, but then remembering earlier asked, "But I thought you had lunch scheduled?"

"Oh yeah. Give me a moment," Logan said and pulled out his phone and hit Rory's number. "Hey Ace…There's a bit of a crisis that came up at the paper so we're heading over…No, you just relax…Are you sure?...I'll meet you in the lobby in 5," he finished and then hung up.

Jeff looked at him and asked, "Are you still coming sir?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The group made their way down to the lobby where Logan spotted Rory, who immediately handed him his room key. He grabbed her hand, and they made their way out to the car and rode to the paper.

The group, comprised of the editors, Logan, and Rory, entered the building and were immediately engulfed in the chaos. Jeff tried to get everyone's attention, without much success, and eventually gave a loud whistle which worked.

He started organizing the staff, set up people to do fact checking and research, and got them all settled before finally turning to the editors.

"This isn't how things normally work, but I'm putting everyone in pairs one to edit and the other to type in the changes, while also doing a second edit. We won't have time to send the changes back to the writers and I'm not sure they'll have time either," Jeff explained. He looked around the group and started assigning people to one task or another. His last was to Logan to who would be editing with himself as his partner.

When he finished and Rory didn't have a task, she asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"I'm not sure…" Jeff started, not knowing what she was qualified to do.

Rory sent him a glare before turning to give Logan a look causing him to speak up, "Why doesn't she pair with me, and then you will be free to work wherever needed." Logan noticed the hesitant look on Jeff's face, then added, "She was my Editor in Chef at Yale, she knows how a paper runs."

Jeff tried to hide is surprise, but relented and said, "Fine."

As the group was slowly disbanding, Rory turned to Logan and said, "You type, I'll edit."

"Says who?" he challenged.

"Me. I read faster and my spelling's better while you type faster than me, Mr. _'I type 90 words a minute,'_" Rory said, not leaving any room for argument.

"Have we decided if you were a dictator in a former life yet?" Logan asked.

"Well…I am related to Adolf. But, I'll call Miss Cleo and get back to you on that," Rory shot back and made her way to the desk Jeff said they could use.

Logan shook his head and followed after her, leaving a group of curious onlookers behind.

"Who is she?" Someone asked.

"A friend?"

"If she looks like that, I highly doubt she's his friend, or at least not platonically."

"And did you hear the way she talked to him, she must know him well."

"Girlfriend?"

"He's engaged, well according to the paper that is…I wonder if that's her?"

"He said she was the editor at Yale, guys like that always go for boobs over brains, so I doubt it."

"Exactly, besides he needs a nice trophy wife."

--

Rory was working her way through a pile of articles and sending them to Logan. She needed a coffee fix and decided to make her way to the break room she spotted earlier and poured a cup. After she downed the first cup and poured her second, she realized she never got lunch. Making her way over to Logan, she leaned up against his desk.

"Can I help you?" Logan said with out looking up.

"I need food, can I order something?" Rory said with a pout.

"Why are you asking?" Logan asked, finally turning towards her.

"I forgot my purse so I need your credit card," she explained with an innocent smile.

Logan looked around and then stood up and walked over to Jeff. When he came back, he said, "Order food, but order enough for the entire staff, no one's going to get a lunch break. Just remember, they eat like normal people, not you." Logan pulled out his black card and handed it to Rory and whispered, "Be nice to it," in her ear as he sat down.

--

On the other side of the newsroom, the exchanged spurred another round of gossip.

"Did you see that, he gave her his credit card!"

"And did you see how he whispered in her ear…what does that mean?"

"I bet they're sleeping together," someone else offered.

"Maybe she is his west coast fling. Wasn't his father supposed to be coming, and then he came in his place, last minute. I bet it was to see her."

"Karen told me she went to Yale, I wonder how long it's been going on."

"I wonder if his fiancé knows he's sleeping around already."

--

Rory returned to her work and passed the time until the food arrived and she went to pay.

"Excuse me," Logan said loudly, "Food's here, it should be enough for everyone, so grab some while you work."

Everyone looked thankful, but surprised, by Logan's announcement. Soon enough, Rory was walking in, carrying some food, followed by the 2 delivery guys who had brought it. Rory grabbed some food and made her way back to work, much happier than she was before.

The next thing Logan knew, it was 4:45, and the end was in sight. He walked over to Rory and said, "Why don't you head back and start getting ready?"

"Logan, I can stay. There's still more work to do," Rory argued.

"Don't worry about it, we have it under control. Hopefully, I'll be out of here by 5:30," he said while sitting on the desk.

"If you're sure. I can stay," Rory said while standing up.

"Ace, I'm sure. The car can take you to the hotel and then come back for me," he reasoned.

"Okay," Rory said and gave him a quick kiss, "bye."

"Bye," Logan replied and watched her walk away.

"Where is she going?" Jeff asked, still unsure who the mystery girl was, but too afraid to ask. It really wasn't any of his business.

"To get ready for the benefit tonight," Logan answered, "What do you need me to do?"

"Help finalize the layout," Jeff said and pointed to where someone was already working.

--

"She kissed him!"

"I saw, what does that mean?"

"I don't know, but I heard he'll be at the benefit tonight, do you think she'll be with him?"

The two women continued to gossip while finishing their work for the day.

--

_A/N: Please send me those reviews!_


	20. You're Beautiful

_A/N: If you enjoy this chapter (which I hope you do!) thank Christi, my beta. I was a bit skeptical about what this chapter could involve and was thinking about cutting it down and combining it with 19, but as it got nearer she fought for it and convinced me not too. And I'm glad because I like how it turned out!_

_One note, I used the abbreviation HM for Huntzberger Media, because well, I got sick of typing it out. Just be aware because it's here once and will probably be used again. _

_Hope you enjoy!_

--

Later that night, Rory and Logan walked into the ballroom where the event was taking place, Logan already assured her, like the last event he would control which photos were printed. She knew it was going to be full of Huntzberger Media employees along with some members of high society – although not as many as there would be if the event was held on the East Coast. That combination of attendants would normally annoy her to no end, but she overlooked that fact and became enthusiastic when she found out the dinner was to raise money for a children's literacy program. She actually decided to make a sizable donation of her own from the trust her great-grandmother had left her. She felt that all the Gilmore's would agree that this was a good cause, and the first Lorelai would be proud to see how she was spending the money.

As they entered, they saw a few people from the San Francisco paper they had met earlier that day and said a polite hello. Logan also greeted some others he had met over the past 2 days. They were making their way over to the bar when Logan was pulled over by the regional manager of _HM_, so Rory excused herself to get their drinks.

Logan was updated on a few of the topics they had discussed in their meeting Thursday, but needed to be researched further before they could be decided upon. He wasn't exactly thrilled to be having the conversation instead of spending time with Rory, but knew it was necessary, and was happy to hear how much progress they had achieved in just one day. The discussion was short lived, and soon Logan found himself alone, waiting on Rory's return.

"Hi, I'm Jamie," a voice greeted. Logan looked up and saw leggy blond eyeing him.

"Logan," he said shortly, leaving out his last name, knowing it would only encourage her.

"What is such an attractive man doing here alone?" she asked, and then added softer, "I can keep you company."

"How do you know I'm here alone?" Logan questioned.

"Because no girl in her right mind would leave a guy like you unattended," she stated simply.

"Maybe she trusts me," he offered.

Jamie took a step closer, placed her hand on his arm, and whispered, "Should she?"

Logan stepped back from her, then with a smirk and a twinkle in his eye, replied to her in the same tone, "Absolutely."

The women seemed like she was trying to decide what approach to take next when, to his relief, Rory returned handing him his drink. He saw Rory quickly glanced between himself and the mystery girl so he spoke up, "Jamie, my fiancé Rory."

"Nice to meet you," Rory offered, a little too sweetly for Logan's liking.

"You too," Jamie said, but showed no sign of leaving. She actually continued to check Logan out.

Rory couldn't believe this girl and decided to make the situation clear. She took a step closer to Logan and ran her hand up his arm and asked quietly, but loud enough for Jamie to hear, "How long do we have to stay before we can head back to the hotel?"

"A few hours," he replied, it was the truth anyways, he was just using it for his benefit.

"I can't wait," Rory purred, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave his a series of light kisses.

As Logan wrapped his arms around her waist, they heard the woman let out a huff and walk away.

Rory pulled back and started laughing, "That was fun."

Logan shook his head, "You enjoyed that way too much," he said, then kissed her one last time before moving back to the _'society appropriate,'_ distance.

"Yeah, well, we all have different ways to get our kicks," Rory said with a shrug as they went to find their table.

When they reached it, they saw an older couple talking to a man in his 30's. They made introductions and learned that the couple was another one from society, and the man was the co-chairman of the foundation. The group continued a light discussion on the foundation and was soon joined by a third couple, as well as the other co-chairman of the foundation.

As a majority of the guests seemed to have arrived, the chairmen decided now would be an appropriate time to welcome everyone.

"Good evening. First, I would like to thank everyone for their support of this foundation. Tonight's event will allow us to offer more after school and summer programs to children of the San Francisco area, which are in as high of a demand as ever. Your generosity this evening is a large part of making this possible. The other part are private donations made, many of whom are in attendance tonight, thank you. Lastly, I asked Logan Huntzberger to say a few words on behalf of Huntzberger Media which sponsored this event and has also pledged their financial support for the foundation, and his fiancée, Lorelai Gilmore, who also made her own significant personal contribution.

The couple walked to the stage, Rory slightly in front, as Logan put a hand gently on her back. As they stepped near the microphone, Logan gestured for her to speak first.

As Rory did so, she noticed the look on the faces of many in the crowd. Most looked at her shocked and seemed to be unsure as to what she could possibly have to say about the foundation. Then there was a small group, primarily a few employees from _The Chronicle_, who were looking at her shocked.

Taking a deep breath and gathering her thoughts, determined to show everyone how wrong they were about her, she began, "_'A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity, and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight,' _Robertson Davies. While I am not yet into old age, I did begin my love of books at a young age. Many of those books, I have read a second and third time through the years. Then, there is _Pride and Prejudice _which I have read until the pages started falling out; I recently purchased my 3rd copy. And while some books, like _My Lai 4,_ I read before I could truly understand them and subsequently found it necessary to revisit them in college, I always took at least one thing away from them. Any book, whether a timeless classic or the next _Harry Potter,_ stretches the imagination, expands the mind, and exposes new worlds. Youth is the time for learning all of this, as so many of us did, and it is a priceless gift to be passed onto future generations. Thank you."

As Rory walked to where Logan was standing, he was walking towards the podium. When he was passing her, he paused and asked, "Where did that come from?"

She gave him an innocent smile and said, "I wanted to make them speechless."

Logan walked to the microphone and saw Rory had done just that. Everyone's eyes seemed glued to her while looks of shock seemed frozen on their face.

Clearing his throat, which snapped them out of their daze, he spoke, "Thank you all for attending this dinner in support of such a fundamental, but important, cause. Reading is taught at a young age, but yet is one of the most essential things we learn. It is the stepping stone to further information. For with it, history, science, fiction, or even the instructions manuals for your most recent high tech purchase are now available to you in an unlimited supply. Again, on behalf of _Huntzberger Media_, my father who could not be here tonight, myself, and my fiancé, I would like to thank you for being here. I hope you enjoy your evening."

With that, Logan and Rory returned to their table.

"Impressive Miss Gilmore," one of the chairmen said.

"What?" she asked with wide eyes, acting surprised by his statement.

"Stop it Ace, you know what their talking about," Logan stated, while placing his arm over the back of her chair.

"Fine, but Logan you know that means they think a woman would have to be brain dead to want to marry you," Rory replied with her own smirk in place.

"See I would respond, but I don't know if that comment just made fun of you or me," Logan replied, turning her words back on her.

Rory just gave him a quick pout and returned to their conversation. The group talked about the various programs they have established, how many children participate, and in what areas they were having the most success. Dinner was going to be served soon, so Rory excused herself and made her way to the restroom.

--

She was washing her hands and fixing her hair when the two gossip hounds of _The Chronicle_ walked in.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Huntzberger's friend," the first chided.

"Excuse me?" Rory said, not sure what else she should say.

"I'm sure you think it's going to help your career, but are you really planning on sleeping your way to the top?"

"You think you're so special, the way you kissed him, but if he has you here you should realize he probably has a girl in every part of the country," the second girl said in a mocking voice.

"He's probably bored with you by now; I think I'll make him an offer. Why should you be the only one to benefit from his connection," the first girl stated, and turned to the mirror to pull her shirt down, showing more cleavage.

Rory was fuming about what they were saying and then realized they thought she was some fling, "You were late getting here, weren't you?"

"What are you now the attendance police? So what if we were a few minutes late, it's not the end of the world," she explained snidely, while reapplying her lipstick.

"I was just asking because I realized you missed my introduction," Rory said with a playful smile.

"What does it matter, you aren't stopping me from getting him," the girl shot back, looking at her critically before adding, "especially because you seemed to miss the memo that you need to show some skin to get him in bed with you."

Rory quickly glanced down at her classic Oscar de la Renta dress that Logan picked out for her this evening. She had fallen in love with it since it reminded her of the dress Princess Diana wore when she danced with John Travolta at the White House. The same off the shoulder cup sleeves, rounded neck, and long, flowing material that no doubt would twirl out when she danced. The main difference was this dress was black instead of navy. She rolled her eyes before returning to the issue at hand.

"But it does, you see I'm not his Bay-area girlfriend, I'm more the all-encompassing kind," she offered all too sweetly.

"What does that mean," the other girl asked, not understanding Rory's implications.

Rory turned to them, "Well, I would have to rethink the impending wedding if I weren't." At the blank looks she was receiving, she held up her left hand, pointed to the ring there with her right and said, "Logan has great taste in diamonds." When they didn't seem to respond either out of shock or lack of understanding, she added, "I'm his fiancé."

The two girls looked at one another before slowly turning back to Rory and letting out a very quiet, "Oh."

"And don't think the short skirt and revealing shirt will get him in your bed. You are by no means the first girl, and I highly doubt the last, who will try it," Rory said shortly, turned on her heal, and left.

When she returned to the table, Logan took in her flushed cheeks and asked, "What happened?"

"I ran into your fan club and had some fun," she said simply.

"What does that mean?" he asked, with a smile. Rory told him the story, and as she was finishing, Logan noticed the girls she mentioned watching them so he leaned into her ear and blew very lightly.

This caused Rory to start laughing because it tickled. Giggling, she asked, "Logan why did you do that?"

"To make you react like that," he said honestly, while wrapping a lock of her hair around his finger.

"Why?" Rory asked, then sighed, "they're watching us aren't they…"

"Yep and besides, I like teasing you," he said, then kissed her temple and sat back in his chair to join in the conversation the rest of the table was having.

--

After a few minutes, dinner was served. The conversations died down, but never fell into an awkward silence. Finally, the plates were cleared so Rory and Logan made their way to the bar, got fresh drinks, and joined a small group of men in the lobby to discuss some shoptalk a little more privately. As they talked, Rory threw in her thoughts, and while she had proved she had some intelligence when she spoke earlier, they were all clearly surprised by her knowledge of newspapers.

A few more employees joined their group and had changed the subject, quickly getting caught up in it. Rory was listening, but since the topic was sports she was staying quiet. She felt a pull on her arm which caused her to turn and take a step away from Logan. The culprit was an editor she had been introduced to earlier, but couldn't remember what paper.

"You're beautiful," he said quietly.

Rory wasn't sure what he was getting at and after a pregnant pause said, "Thank you."

"And you're quite intelligent," he said with a soft smile.

"Thanks," she said again, but signs of her confusion showed on her face.

"You shouldn't be a trophy wife."

"I'm not," Rory snapped back.

"You could have a flourishing career."

"I do have a career. I wouldn't call it flourishing yet, but it's defiantly good. Flourishing will come," Rory said.

"I had to try and steal you away, but that isn't what I want."

Rory gave him raised eyebrow, "What do you want?

"I just thought a woman like yourself should have some pleasures in her life," he offered, lacing his voice with a suggestive tone.

"And you think you can do that?"

"I haven't had complaints yet," he said with a wink. "It can be a secret, no one would have to know, and we'll both be rewarded."

"I don't think Logan would like that very much," Rory stated.

"Like he would care. I know how society marriages work, two people from well to do families are pushed together to improve their status."

"We are not a society set-up!" she hissed, not loud, but loud enough to gain the attention of the group they had broken off from.

"Ace, everything okay?" Logan asked, walking over to her and lacing their hands together.

"He was propositioning me!"

Logan turned on the man, "Did he now?"

"Look I didn't mean anything by it, I just thought it was okay. You know society couples," he defended.

"This is not like that," Logan responded.

"Really? Or are you good at faking it?" the man challenged, regaining some of his courage.

Rory could not believe this guy, so she turned Logan, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. Logan was happy to comply, but soon forgot about their audience and his hands lowered to her ass, lifting her slightly. Rory felt his movement and her legs immediately went around him. When she was secure, his mouth started moving down her neck so she rolled her head to the side to give him more room. As she did, she saw the group around them and whispered, "Logan."

"Mmmm," was all he replied, continuing down her neck.

"Logan," she said a little louder and started pushing his chest.

"Talk later," he mumbled.

"Logan!" she yelled.

"What?" he asked, annoyed at having to stop.

"People," she said, and pointed behind him.

Logan turned his head, saw what she was pointing at and let her down to the ground.

The group stood silent, none knowing what to say, until finally Rory started laughing.

"Something funny Ace?"

"Just this, I mean I'm not one for PDA, but we're getting married, why is everyone so shocked that we make out?"

Logan looked at the men in front him, who remained silent and knew what they were thinking, so he answered for them, "Because I'm a Huntzberger."

Rory looked at him confused, but he just excused them and walked back into the benefit and onto the dance floor. He was holding her as close as possible, but still hadn't said anything.

"You okay?" Rory asked quietly, not sure what had caused the mood change.

"It's nothing," Logan replied, seeming to grip her even tighter. Rory wasn't sure what was wrong, but if what he needed was to hold her, that's what she would let him do.

--

In what seemed no time, the evening was wrapping up. Logan and Rory said goodbye to the necessary people and took the short ride back to the hotel. When they finished changing and settled in for the night, Logan still hadn't said much.

"Logan, did I do something?" she asked quietly.

"It's nothing Rory," he said sternly.

Rory almost gasped at the use of her name, but moved to join him in bed. Instead of curling up against him like usual though, she just pulled the blankets up and tried to get comfortable. She quickly realized that she didn't like sleeping without Logan's arms around her, but she didn't think that he wanted to cuddle so she continued to shift trying to get comfortable.

After hearing her move yet again, Logan reached out while saying, "Come here."

As she moved towards him, she felt his arms tighten around her, not the normal, more relaxed embrace. Rory lay wide awake and after awhile realized Logan had fallen asleep, but his arms were just as tight. Rory moved her head slightly and saw his face seemed tense also. She sighed, not sure how she was going to fall asleep like this, his arms had a death grip on her body. After more time passed, she went to move out of his arms, but they only gripped her tighter. She gave up and started playing word association games in her head. 'Logan, love, sex, condom, latex, balloons, clowns, birthdays, presents, Christmas, Santa, cookies….'

--

Rory wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep, but as she awoke, she noticed she was alone in the bed. She took a moment to regain her senses before smelling the coffee next to the bed and hearing the shower in the background.

She drank the coffee and then saw Logan exit the bathroom. He smiled at her, but she noticed how forced it seemed and simply walked up to him, kissed him, and said _'I love you.'_ Instead of a reply, all she got was nod before she went to take her own shower.

She finished getting ready before finding Logan reading the paper and eating a bagel. He smiled at her again and she decided to play his game and smiled back.

"So what's the plan for today?" she asked.

"I was thinking of driving through some streets here and then maybe taking the ferry over to Alcatraz. We have to be at the airfield by 4 so we have some time."

"That sounds nice," Rory said while finishing her second cup of coffee.

Logan had the driver take them through some of famous streets, including Lombard Street, then along the bay and by the San Francisco Bay Bridge, before dropping them to go out to Alcatraz.

As they rode the boat out, Rory started shivering, as she did, she looked at Logan and noticed he was wearing what was typical for him: khaki's, a shirt, and a jacket.

Logan heard her shivering and wrapped her in his arms. As she warmed up, she asked, "Why did you wear that in the middle of the summer?"

Logan smirked and said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

"Mark Twain," Rory muttered, still cold.

"Here," Logan said taking off his jacket and putting it on her.

"I don't want you to be cold," she said.

"I'm fine," he said, wrapping his arms around her again.

They arrived at the island and walked up to the old jail house building to begin their audio tour of the old prison. Logan found it interesting, but he swore Rory was memorizing every word the narrator spoke. He figured he would have to buy her the DVD version of the tour since she enjoyed it so much. He was glad she liked it, he wasn't sure where to take her and was happy to see he chose right. As their tour came to an end, Rory went over to the one of the guides stationed throughout the prison to ask a few questions. Logan hung back, observing the people around him. This was why he saw the guide's eyes roaming over Rory. She was beautiful, he knew that, and would be surprised if guys didn't notice her, but he wasn't in the mood to watch that today.

He walked over and said, "Ready to go Ace?"

She looked over at Logan and knew he was still in his weird mood from the day before, but decided not to say anything. They arrived back at their car, which drove them to the air strip. They stepped out of the car and were lead to the Huntzberger jet by a worker waiting for them.

Once they reached the plane, he said, "Have a good flight Mr. Huntzberger, Miss," but Logan saw his eyes wander as well and just about snapped.

They climbed into the plane, and Logan was about to explode. They remained silent and got settled for take off and soon were airborne.

As the plane was leveling out, Rory became fed up with his behavior and snapped, "What did I do, tell me what I did that was so wrong?"

Logan didn't even shift his eyes as he responded, "YOU didn't do anything Rory."

"Then tell me what is bothering you," she demanded.

"I don't want to talk about," was all Logan said and left his seat and went to the small bedroom at the back of the plane.

Rory remained in her seat for about 10 minutes when she realized he wasn't coming back anytime soon. Frustrated, Rory walked to where Logan had disappeared to not long ago and opened the door to see him sitting on the edge of the bed, his head resting in his hands. She entered the room and closed the door behind her.

"Logan, what is it?" Rory asked in a soft and soothing voice.

"Why can't you just accept I don't want to talk about it!" Logan yelled.

"Well I do! And unless you plan on parachuting out of this plane you're stuck with me for the next few hours. I let it go last night, but you're still upset about it so start explaining," Rory dictated, while crossing her arms over her chest and leaning on the door, showing him that he had nowhere to go.

Logan silently cursed that she was as stubborn as he was, and just sat for a few minutes before relenting to Rory's question, "You're beautiful."

Rory starting laughing, but sobered up when she realized he was serious, "And the problem is? I can't help my mom hit me with the pretty stick when I was a baby."

Logan smiled at the crazy reference, but continued to explain, "Do you know how guys look at you?"

Rory started to understand what the problem was and went over to him. "No, because I don't care how all the other guys look at me, I just care how you look at me."

Logan pulled her down so she straddled his lap, and spoke, "That doesn't mean I like it."

"I know," Rory said with a nod and then to drive the point home added, "it bothers me a little when girls look at you like that too."

"I don't want them too," Logan supplied.

Rory smiled, "I know, that's why I never get mad. So is this all about my proposition last night? Because I'll have to remind you of the blond when we first arrived."

"I hate when girls do that. I have you, I only want you. And no, it wasn't about that guy, well kind of, but not like you think," Logan started to ramble.

"So explain it to me," Rory said patiently.

"It was the looks on their faces after we stopped making out."

"I didn't mean to embarrass you like that, I'm sorry. I know, totally inappropriate," Rory rushed out quickly.

"You didn't embarrass me."

"Then what?"

"They all looked so surprised that I was actually attracted and even in love with my fiancé."

"I know you love me Logan, I don't care what they think," Rory said with a smile.

"But that's exactly it." Rory decided not to say anything, knowing he would continue when he wanted to. "I don't want everyone to think I look at my marriage or you the way my dad looks at my mom."

"And how is that?" Rory asked, trying to help him out.

"My dad decided he needed an heir and therefore he needed to be married, so he found my mom stumbling out of a bar and soon enough they were engaged. I'm not sure what it was like at first, if he ever loved her, but when I was little it was okay. Not great, not how I would have liked it, but okay, they could keep up appearances better."

Rory nodded, knowing what he was talking about, "Then what?"

"Then, he started having his affairs, or maybe just not hiding them as well, and mom started smoking and drinking."

"Why didn't they get a divorce?"

"One, grandpa would be livid. Two, I think in some weird way he cares about her, like she wasn't what he wanted, but he couldn't let her go."

Rory suspected as much, the women of the DAR were, if nothing else, expert gossipers. "What does that have to do with this?"

"I don't want that. I don't want wake up one day and realize I haven't shared a bed with my wife for years. I don't want his life, his career maybe, obviously minus the bullying and some of the hours and travel, but definitely not his life."

"You aren't going to have his life, I can promise you that," Rory said looking him directly in the eye.

"You can't promise that, you don't know what will happen," Logan sighed, returning to his thoughts.

"Yes I can, and it's the truth," Rory said confidently.

"How do you know?" Logan asked, almost begging her to make him see it.

"Promise to let me finish," Rory asked, when he nodded she continued, "You get me, you get what I want from you. It wasn't money or a name, like your mom wants from your dad, it was just you. And, I don't think you got it at first, now don't think I didn't love you or wasn't happy or anything like that, but when we first started dating you always made everything extravagant: diamond earrings, a Birkin bag, a weekend away, 13 course meals, all that stuff. Every girl likes nice things on occasion and I'm not going to say I'm an exception to that, but that's not what I wanted from you. I started to see it when you were trying to convince me to go back to Yale, see you knew I would miss it. I didn't want to admit it, but you knew that about me. It wasn't until we broke up that I knew you got it completely."

"And what was that?" Logan asked, no sure how a break up made this connection.

"You tried getting me back by buying me who knows how many bouquets of flowers, a coffee cart, fruit, and so on...annoying actually. But it didn't work because while I may like coffee and flowers are always nice, it felt like you were trying to bribe me to come back to you, like how your dad buys your mom something expensive when your mom hears about something he did, like he's paying for her compliance. All any of that takes is a high enough limit on your credit card. And fruit? What were you thinking, I don't eat fruit."

This got a small laugh from Logan who was remembering all of the ridiculous things he had done.

"But what was it that got me to talk to you?" Rory asked, still sitting on his lap.

"A letter from Lorelai," Logan answered.

"Yes, because I knew you couldn't buy that letter. The only way you could have gotten that from her was if you did something to make her think you deserved a second chance, and let me tell you, she was not you're biggest fan at the time."

"And that means this is all going to be okay," Logan questioned.

"Yep, because you know if you screw up big, you can't make it better by buying me something shinny and no way will mom give you a letter if it's bad. You know that if you were stupid enough to cheat on me, and I know you won't, but if you did, I would castrate you. But, you are also worried about it, determined not to turn out like that, and since when did Logan Huntzberger not get what he wanted? Also, you didn't find me stumbling out of a bar…away from the coffee cart, kind of, but I don't remember stumbling and while I do want to have kids with you, you want me to have your kids, not your heirs. You want me for more than my ability to have babies. So yes, it will all be okay."

"I love you," Logan said sincerely.

"I love you too," Rory said and gave him a kiss then asked, "Are you okay now or are you going to cut off my blood flow when we go to asleep again tonight?"

"Sorry about that, but yes, everything is fine," Logan said and rested his head against her.

"I think I know what you need," Rory said after a few minutes passed, standing up and walking over to her bag and pulling out her planner.

"Rory, I said I was fine," Logan sighed.

"I know, but I still think you need to relax a bit more."

"So what's your idea? And, I'm not going to a spa…" Logan said, wondering what she was looking at on her calendar.

"Not the plan, but useful information. A guy's night," she explained.

"You're not a guy," he pointed out.

"Really!" she said sarcastically. "I know that Logan: You need a guys' night with Colin and Finn. The three of you have been busy lately, and Steph and I are always around. So, play poker, watch the _Die Hard _trilogy or whatever is you do. I bet you could have it at Finn's place," Rory offered.

Logan liked the idea, but wondered what else was going on, "What about you?"

Rory made a show of thinking really hard before saying, "I know! I can have a girls' night at our place. I haven't even talked to Bri about her date yet, and I miss seeing Steph as often as I did before."

"That was the plan the whole time, wasn't it?" Logan said, looking at Rory.

"No, honest, my first thought was you, but when I said guys' night, I thought about how much fun a girls' night would be as well," Rory confessed.

Logan smiled, "Sounds like a great idea. We'll call everyone tomorrow and figure out a date."

"Okay, and Logan, if you're freaking out about something like that again, I need you talk to me because I can't stand seeing you like that," Rory said quietly.

"I promise," Logan said seriously and then fell back onto the bed, pulling Rory with him and held her to his chest.

--

_A/N: As always send me those reviews!_


	21. Whipped or Conquered?

_A/N: I would like to apologize for the delay. I don't really have an excuse, but I offer a short explanation. First, this is really my first attempt at any sort of creative writing, not just fan fic, (if you would like a research paper on metal fatigue…let me know, I can crank that out in a few hours) so sometimes I find it hard to get things on paper and when I get stuck, I don't have that ability to pull my self out of it down pat yet. Second, on the couple of days I had planned to do most of my writing I had some other commitments come up. So again I really do apologize._

_Onto the chapter: As always a thanks to Christi, I know we both found parts of this one fairly entertaining so I hope you all enjoy it as well! _

**--**

Monday morning while driving to work, Logan thought about his trip to San Francisco this past weekend. It had been going great until he started overreacting at the benefit, he knew he was doing it, but worrying about that was like a reflex. It was what he grew up around, not just his parents, but Colin's and Steph's too. The only slightly normal couple was Finn's parents who weren't around all that much since they split time between Australia and America, but before he saw them interact, Logan, along with Colin and Steph, had thought what their parents had was how all marriages worked. He loved Rory, he wanted to marry Rory, and he felt extremely guilty for snapping the way he had. He was thankful Rory understood, being patient yet reassuring. It was exactly what he needed to hear from her. At the time, it seemed silly, but now, a night with the guys sounded more and more appealing. As he pulled into the parking lot at the _Times_, the upcoming weekend was already lightening his mood.

He made his way to his desk, collecting his messages from the weekend and his trip. He was always surprised at how many he collected when he wasn't in the office, he knew it sounded lame; he was overseeing 3 newspapers and was also the future CEO/President of _HM_, but still couldn't believe how much time he spent on the phone. This morning proved to be no different, as he was on the phone continuously until lunch. The sad part was this made an afternoon reading stats and reports and filling out paperwork exciting.

Logan was happy when the rest of the week was spent with some meetings and time in actual news rooms. On Thursday, he had a lunch meeting scheduled with Dan and two writers on his staff.

"Hey Dan, ready to go?" Logan asked walking into the sports desk.

"Yep, you've met Charlie and Andrea right?"

Logan shook both their hands and said, "Of course," while the four exited the building.

The point of the lunch was to discuss the sports or events that were taking place in the fall and different stories/teams they wanted to feature. Since it was August, they really only had 3 sports to look at: the end of the MLB season and their playoffs, the start of the football (both college and pro), and the U.S. Open. While this planning was necessary, Logan wasn't really needed, but he was a sports fan and didn't have many opportunities to discuss them lately. Rory, well, she was the most athletically challenged person he'd ever met. Finn grew up Australian, which meant he followed the same sports as the rest of the world, like soccer and rugby. While Logan liked those sports, he preferred American sports like football, hockey, and basketball. And finally Colin, Colin played golf and sometimes tennis recreationally, but was never big in following sports: If he wasn't involved, he wasn't interested. So, when Dan had asked about him sitting in on a meeting, he quickly accepted.

After they sat down and ordered their drinks, Dan opened the discussion, "First off, baseball."

This was met by groans, when Charlie finally spoke up, "I like baseball, but the season may actually go on for an eternity, I have an intern investigating the matter as we speak."

Andrea rolled her eyes at his theatrics, but pointed out, "But in the end they have the lowest percentage that go onto the post season, so it's probably the most important sport to win your division."

"True but a loss or two doesn't hurt your standings the way it does in football," Logan argued.

"Which makes each individual game during the regular season not seem as important. Missing 5 games because you're out of town isn't a big deal, in football that's a third of the season," Andrea shot back, before she was realizing who she was talking too and adding, "I'm sorry Mr. Huntzberger."

"It's nothing," Logan said wanting to wave it off. Truth was he enjoyed the more laid back atmosphere this type of meeting produced. He always felt like more was accomplished this way than when he was stuck in a stuffy board room all day.

"Okay, points made," Dan said, trying to get back on topic. "The fact is we have 2 New York teams at the top of their divisions, who will very likely make it to the playoffs…we need to capitalize on that."

"The Mets are more of a sure in right now, the Yankees still have the Red Sox within striking distance," Logan pointed out.

"Okay so we'll use all of that, plus an article on who is being predicted to win the pennant, for baseball. Next topic, the NFL." Dan dictated, while jotting down notes.

"We need to do preview of the Jets and Giants with some analysis on the rookies and newly acquired players after a few preseason games are played," Logan said, thinking about the upcoming season.

"What about out national readers?" Dan asked

"We could have a short preview for each team and then have slightly more in-depth look at the top preseason teams: Colts, Steelers, Patriots, Seahawks and Eagles." Andrea suggested.

"Those teams do cover most regions of the US, add in the Cowboys, and probably have the most loyal fan basis, so it would work well," Logan offered.

"Done, college football?" Dan shot, wanting to get the meeting ended quickly.

"Nothing much is out yet, the first games are still a few weeks away," Charlie offered.

"Fine, do some general coverage of the initial top 25 and a small Big East preview," Dan replied. Just then the waiter returned to take their orders. After he left, Dan said, "And last, but not least, the US Open."

"Federer is predicted to win," Logan offered.

"As consistent as gravity," Andrea added. "What about a look at the some of the no-names who went through all the qualifiers to get a spot. Everyone always loves those stories."

"Actually I like that; although, it starts at the end of the month, so we'll get back to it as it gets closer," Dan decided.

"Is that it?" Logan asked.

"Yep, I told you it would be quick, that's why we did it over lunch. Just wanted to make sure we weren't missing anything big. I think it's easier to do a quick run through with a few other people before I sit down and start handing out assignments. Less chance of something getting overlooked," Dan said honestly.

"What I like to hear," Logan teased.

"So I still have a job?" Dan asked sarcastically.

"Not if you keep asking," Logan shot back.

Charlie and Andrea looked shocked at the playful teasing between Dan and Logan, not understanding how Dan could be so calm around the Huntzberger heir. After a few more minutes of conversation, they were able to get over their shock and remember the multiple meetings the two had since he started. They enjoyed their lunch and discovered that Logan seemed to actually know a lot about running a newspaper despite his young age. When lunch finished the group returned to the office and Logan made his way to another meeting to finish out his day.

--

Logan only got through the rest of the week by thinking about Friday which couldn't come fast enough. Just the thought of hanging out with his friends allowed him to start relaxing as he took his shower. When he finished he threw on a pair of khakis and a t-shirt before heading across the hall to Finn's. He wasn't surprised to see he was the first to arrive, so he helped Finn set up the table for poker. The plan was for Logan, Colin, and Seth to all meet at Finn's apartment, play poker, and just relax and enjoy being with the guys.

Seth was the next to arrive. He had an interesting role within their group, being 2 years older he had graduated with his master's degree the same year as Logan got his bachelor's. He wasn't as close as the other 3, but had known them for years and over time had become something of a cross between good friend and older brother, a trusted confidant and even mentor if the occasion called for it. With him, he brought a fifth of whiskey and a tray of what Logan would guess to be spinach triangles.

Logan and Finn were both staring at the food when Logan asked, "I thought we were ordering pizza?"

"Yeah mate, why would you bring food? All I said you needed to bring was yourself and money to loose."

"But this," Seth said, point to the food he had just set down, "was easier."

"How was bringing food easier? The bottle, I understand…alcohol doesn't go bad, but that looks like society food," Finn pointed out.

"It was bring the food or continue the argument I was having with Laura," Seth said trying to explain.

"So you're whipped. It's okay, you're among friends. We won't harass you…" Logan stated, trying to stay serious, but when he saw Finn laughing, let it out and added, "…too much!"

"Who's calling who whipped, Huntzberger?" Seth retorted.

"I am not whipped!" Logan exclaimed.

"Yes, you are!" Colin pointed out while closing the door. Walking to where the other three were gathered, he looked at the counter and asked, "Who brought the chick food?"

"Seth," Finn answered, shaking his head.

"Why? Wasn't this supposed to be a guys' night…I think that type of food is a violation."

"Colin, my dear friend, it seems Seth is whipped and brought shame to our night to avoid a disagreement with the Missus," Finn explained dramatically.

"She didn't believe me when I said I wasn't supposed to bring food. She kept yelling, saying it was rude to show up with out a dish to pass and made them for me to bring. I have enough trouble talking her out of bringing food to society parties and she spent extra time trying to make something she thought would be appropriate. What was I supposed to do? Refuse and leave the food?" Seth argued, trying to make them understand.

He knew that you didn't bring food places in society because it was considered an insult to the host, and lets face it it's not like they couldn't afford it. Laura was slowly grasping the concept, but she came from a small Southern town where you always took food when visiting people. Seth had met Laura while getting his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at Duke. She was getting her degree in Communications, but was the same age as the guys, so they had maintained a long distance relationship for the first year he was working on his Master's degree at Yale, choosing it to appease his family by having at least one degree from their alma mater. Because of this, and Seth's desire to distance himself from the society life, she was still adjusting. Truth be told, this was also one of the reasons he immediately liked her; she wasn't from Hartford. But, this was also what caused her to insist he bring a plate of who knows what to Finn's. He loved her for trying and wanting to fit in, but even more so for her genuinely sweet intentions when she did it.

Colin started laughing, "Man, you need to get out more…"

"Look who's talking? What took you so long to get here Colin?" Seth asked skeptically.

"I was running late," he stated simply. When he was met by the unconvinced looks of his friends, he relented, "Fine, I was waiting for Steph to get ready, we came here together. And don't look at me like that Logan, you're just as bad!"

"I was on time, without an appetizer," Logan replied swiftly.

"You live across the hall, and Rory doesn't cook," Finn answered, getting out glasses and pouring drinks.

"I believe she once told me that using a stove was against her sacred doctrine. When I asked what religion, she said _the Lorelai_," Seth reasoned.

"That doesn't mean…" Logan started.

"Face it, Huntz," Seth said, "if I'm whipped, you're…you're…I don't know what you are, but it's worse." This caused the rest of the guys to break out in laughter as Logan turned red from embarrassment.

"Oh wait! I got it!" Finn exclaimed. "He's conquered." At the rest of the guys' confused faces, he attempted to elaborate. "Think about it, if you're whipped, you still have free choice, you're just being influenced to choose the way someone else wants you too, but if you're conquered, you're done for…decisions will never again be yours. When William conquered England, he brought with him a new rule; he established the modern monarchy. You are England, and my dear, sweet Rory is the all powerful, all knowing monarch."

After a few moments, Colin started laughing. Seth and Logan just looked overwhelmed so Colin tried to explain through his laughter, "I don't know about Finn's reference, but I'll give him some credit. Think about this: The union army was whipped by the Confederates for the first two years of the Civil War, but was never conquered. In fact, most scholars say Grant was whipped through most of the war, especially towards the end. But, he was not conquered. Lee was never whipped, but was conquered and in the end that was all that mattered. Grant could keep fighting while he was whipped, but once Lee was conquered, that was the end." Halfway through his speech, Seth had started laughing as well.

Logan decided to turn the tables on them since he knew he wasn't going to get out of this conversation unscathed. "Hey, I don't know what you all are laughing about. Rory has you guys all whipped, doing her bidding at the drop of the hat, and you aren't even dating her…at the end of the day, I get pleasantly rewarded; what do you get? And at least, I only have one woman with _influence_ over me, you all have two." That shut the rest of them up quickly, knowing there was some truth to the statement.

"Let's just call a truce," Colin said to his friends, "We all admit that our women and/or Reporter girl, as the case may be, have _some_ control over us, and we in turn stop arguing about it."

"What would the girls say if they found out you called them _'our woman?'_" Finn asked with a raised eyebrow. He had learned never to underestimate those two.

"They wouldn't care," Colin tried, but they could all he didn't even begin to believe it.

"Organize a _Lysistrata _style protest," Seth offered.

"And what did this Lysistrata do?" Finn asked.

"Organized the women of warring nations to with hold sex from their husbands until they signed at peace treaty," Seth explained.

"That is cruel and unusual punishment," Colin yelled.

"But it would be self inflicted for you, you're the one who would have started it!" Logan said with fierce accusation.

"I thought we were calling a truce?" Colin whined.

Logan and Seth slowly nodded their heads, while Finn decided to protest it, yelling, "I did not agree to this truce of which you speak!"

"And why is that Finn? Bri doesn't care what you do?" Logan asked in a tired, but teasing, tone.

"In fact, no she does not. We have had a wonderful time on each of our three dates, and she has yet to boss me around," Finn stated proudly.

"Because you've only been on three dates…you just wait!" Seth reasoned.

The four guys were staring each other down when the buzzer rang telling them the pizza arrived. The interruption brought the cease fire into effect and they each grabbed a slice to eat before the poker game started.

"I still can't believe you're getting married…" Seth said, shaking his head looking over at Logan, "I always figured Colin would be the first of you three to go."

"Why me?" Colin asked, almost sounding offended.

"Because you were in love with Steph," he said simply.

"But we've only been going out a year, Logan has been with Rory for longer than that."

"Yeah, but you had a thing for Steph way before Rory and Logan started dating," he argued, when he saw Colin wasn't convinced, he said, "besides you were always the mature one of the group, so it would have only been natural for you to settle down first. You were never as bad as Logan or Finn when it came to dating."

"I guess," Colin grumbled.

Letting the comment about himself and Finn go, Logan decided to bring up a subject he had been curious about for some time. "Speaking of…when are you going to make an honest women out of Steph?" Logan said teasingly, but also was curious about the answer.

Colin sighed and thought about avoiding the question, but then noticed his friends were trying to be serious. Something they didn't pull off well, and in truth, was creeping him out. His first instinct was to dodge the question, but figured a truthful answer would be the fastest route to a new subject, "We've talked about it, something I'm blaming on you, Logan. We decided that it wouldn't make sense to get married until after I graduate." At the look on his friend's face, he knew that wasn't good enough. And since he already gave a partial answer, the least he could do was elaborate. Sighing, he added, "I may propose to her while I'm still in school so she doesn't expect it, but the wedding won't be until after. If I wait on proposing, she'll expect it the day of my graduation. In fact, I have it on good authority she may start harboring violent tendencies 24 hours after commencement if there is not a ring on a very specific finger."

"Sounds about right," Logan said with a nod. "How about you Seth, besides Laura's cooking, how is married life?"

"Actually, I have some news to share…" Seth said mysteriously.

"You're getting divorced?" Colin asked.

"He's not your father," Finn replied dryly.

"No, everything is good, excellent in fact. Laura's pregnant," Seth confessed, to the shock of the other three.

"What happened? Slip one past the goalie?" Logan teased.

Seth shook his head, "No, we decided to start trying sooner rather than later. It takes some couples longer than others, for us it happened right away…I guess, I'm that good," he said with a bit of pride.

"I don't think it actually has to do with your abilities in bed as much as it does the condition of the condom used Seth," Colin replied shortly, still bitter from the earlier conversation.

"Well that's good, or else you'd be screwed," Finn told Colin with out missing a beat.

"You two are idiots," Logan said with a laugh.

"And why is that?" Colin asked, while shooting a glare at Finn.

"Because if they were _trying_ to get pregnant, I don't think a condom would be involved. Its purpose in life is to prevent pregnancy, not enable it. So there was no condom to break or malfunction in any other manner," Logan said simply.

"Fine, I think it has to do with sperm count, not how good the sex is," Colin amended.

"And, Steph is thankful everyday," Finn said, adding another jab.

Logan noticed Finn and Colin starting to stare each other down and intervened, "Ready to lose you're money boys?"

"Ha, like that's going to happen…your _Ace_ isn't here to bring you luck, now is she?" Colin asked.

"So?" Logan questioned.

"You do have a much better record when she's around which seems to contradict the popular theory that she would serve as a distraction. Are you sure she's not counting the cards for you? Maybe seeing other people's hands, and you've developed a code. Like her calling you _arrogant_ means someone has three of a kind," Finn argued.

"You're assuming she knows anything more than we use cards while playing," Logan said with a laugh while shuffling the cards to deal.

"Dealer calls it?" Logan received nods and started to deal, "We're starting the night off with Omaha gentlemen."

After dealing everyone 4 cards the betting began and soon enough he was turning over the river card, and the final bets were placed. Only Colin had folded, while Logan and Seth called Finn.

Finn looked around the table, gave an evil grin, laid down 2 cards from his hand, and pronounced, "All reds…"

"You watched _Ocean's 11_ with Rory again, didn't you?" Logan asked, but had to laugh at the perfectly timed reference.

"Maybe," Finn said, trying to sound defeated. He picked up the cards and laid down the other two, pocket 9's and sighed, "fine I'll play your way, full house."

Seth muttered, "Damn Aussie," before both he and Logan threw their cards in, and Finn triumphantly collected the pot.

Colin shuffled and, being a bit frustrated from the hand before, announced that the game was Razz and dealt everyone 2 down, 1 up.

"So Finn, what's the story with Bri?" Logan asked.

"What's it to you?" Finn shot back.

"Nothing, but Ace threatened something I love dearly unless I came back with some info…so let's hear it."

"What do you know?" he asked.

"Bri told Rory it went well," Logan said truthfully, it was the extent of his knowledge.

"She has a daughter," Finn offered.

"Really?" Colin asked surprised at the information.

"Did you know?" Finn asked while looking straight at Logan: It was something he had been wondering since the first date.

"Actually, no. Usually when Ace talked about Bri, it was more in the context of work or your impending date, I didn't find out about her until she told me Maddy had the chicken pox so Bri wasn't at work," Logan said honestly.

"And, you're okay with this?" Seth asked, trying to gage what Finn's reaction may have been.

"Yeah, I mean I never really thought about dating someone who already had a kid, but it's going pretty good, besides she's sweet. I was shocked at first: She hadn't given any indication of it before she ran home. I went with her, and surprise, surprise, there was a 3 year old. I wasn't sure what to say, but the next thing I know, I was buying supplies for an upset stomach at the drug store and playing a kid's game."

"Which game?" Logan asked, wondering why Finn just didn't say the name and move on to a less serious topic. He knew Finn didn't like to delve to deep into personal information and figured he'd help him out.

"Why does it matter?" Finn asked, trying to avoid the answer although he appreciated what Logan did.

"Oh it matters," Colin said, hoping for revenge.

"Fine, we played _Pretty Pretty Princess_,and it was fun!" Finn said, trying to look dignified.

Seth saw that in some way Finn was glad he was getting along with Maddy and decided to save him from the teasing, "So how did the night end?"

"She thought I was going to never want to see her again," Finn admitted.

"So that's what Rory meant when she said Bri hadn't had much luck with guys!" Logan exclaimed, all the pieces falling into place.

"And I told her I wanted to see her again, and I kissed her," Finn said happily.

"So what's happened since then?" Seth asked.

"Then, last Saturday we went to the zoo, which was actually a lot of fun, and Wednesday we made a second attempt at dinner, which went smoothly, no interruptions."

"So, is it serious?" Seth asked, wanting to get to the point. He was curious if the last of the Yale playboys was settling down.

"She's my girlfriend, if that's what you're asking," Finn said fidgeting, wanting to end the conversation.

"How is the sex? Good to be back in the swing of things?" Colin teased.

"Why do you have to be such an ass?" Finn snapped.

"Still irritable I see, I guess that means it hasn't happened yet," Colin taunted.

"No, we haven't, not that it should matter to you. I like her and don't want her to think it's about sex. Besides it's different, she has Maddy to think about."

They were silent; Finn usually wasn't the one to get short with people. After a few minutes, Logan said, "I think that's good."

"Thank you, now I'm going to check," Finn answered.

The hand finished, with Colin winning and the other three swearing off the game for the night. Next, Finn dealt a game of 7 card stud, in which he won again.

Next, Seth was up. He declared, "The game is lucky seven's, remember deuces, jacks and the man with the axe are wild, but a pair of natural seven's beats anything," before dealing the hand like 5 card draw.

They were all reading the cards when Finn decided to turn the tables, "So Logan, everyone else has been grilled, what about you? How are you and Ror doing?"

"We're fine," Logan said, with a wave of his hand.

"Uh huh, so what inspired tonight, not that I'm complaining…" Seth asked.

"Just stressed out, that's all. Needed a break from work and wedding plans," Logan stated.

"That's not true," Colin interrupted, "Steph said it had to do with a freak out in San Francisco." The others looked shocked between Colin and Logan, who had his mouth hung open.

"A guy hit on her at the charity event assuming we had an arranged marriage…like my mother would ever allow the name Gilmore to be considered for that type of thing…" Logan rambled, before remembering the topic, "anyways, after we kissed, everyone seemed so shocked that we love each other, and it just got to me. I mean, people think I don't love her because of who am I. I think Rory realized that I was stressed out and that just made it worse and figured a night with other people who understand the situation may help calm me down."

At his look of pure vulnerability and sadness, the others didn't know what to say to him. They knew what it was like to be in his position, everyone assumed society couples married for convenience. They all faced it.

Colin knew that it was assumed he would marry and divorce several times because his father did it. But despite the different stereotypes placed on them, they all knew growing up Logan's parents had to have been the worst. His mother was a gold digger desperately trying to fit into society, his father had more affairs than Colin had step-mothers, and neither of his parents considered Logan a child – he was the heir pure and simple. Although Logan had said his relationship with Mitchum had changed over the past year, and Rory even told Steph it was different, but that was all behind closed doors. That couldn't undo all the years those widely known facts floated through gossip circles all over the country. As much as they hated to admit it, the guys could see how people would assume the worst about Logan's impending marriage, especially since it was to someone from a society family. Scandal aside, a Gilmore would help the Huntzberger name pure and simple: No one would ever consider the fact that Logan and Rory could care less about the other's last name.

Finally, Seth broke through the silence returning to the earlier subject, knowing there was nothing anyone could say. "I defiantly don't miss the wedding planning…man, that was a nightmare," he said, remembering the months leading to his own wedding, which was almost a year ago now.

"It really hasn't been too bad, if you ignore my mother, which we've become experts at. Even, Emily has started making fun of her," Logan said seriously. The rest of the guys started laughing at the picture of proper Emily Gilmore making fun of Shira. No one could believe it, but could only imagine the underhanded insults she would throw Shira's way. If they knew one thing about the Gilmore's, it was that could handle themselves better than anybody else – even Lorelai and Rory who pulled off a look of angelic innocence when they wanted could throw hidden insults like no other.

"Oh just wait. You're doing the easy stuff right now: location, wedding party, rings. No, that's fine…it's the other stuff." Seth said, bringing everyone out of their thoughts on Emily and Shira.

"Like what?" Logan questioned.

"The song they play when you enter the reception…or all the music, for that matter. Centerpieces at the reception, china patterns for your registry…" Seth started, ticking down the list.

"I'm sure whatever Ace picks will be great, I'm not really worried," Logan answered.

"Logan, Logan, Logan…" Seth said disapprovingly.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"So much to learn. This is what I've named the wedding planning catch-22."

"Is that so?" Logan asked, obviously skeptical.

"Yes. Now let me ask you do you want flowers or let's say…candles as the table centerpieces for the reception?"

"I don't know…whatever Ace wants works for me."

"Wrong," Seth offered.

"Wrong? How is that wrong? No, wrong would be saying I want disco balls on each table…"

"Let me explain it to you. Women get excited and want to plan out every detail of the wedding, which is fine. Then at some point, they think you, the groom, are not involved enough. They want you to care about the wedding as much as they do," Seth started his explanation.

"I do care about the wedding!" Logan defended.

"The wedding, yes, all the planning, no. The problem is you, and I, for that matter, could care less about half the details. We see the big picture…the wedding. Women see your lack of input as being that you don't really care about the wedding which means you don't care about getting married."

"That's just stupid!" Finn yelled.

"I know, now here's the catch-22. After they say you should care more and give more input, they ask you what you want for something, and so you give an answer and without fail, it isn't the answer they want."

"Okay…." Logan said, confused by Seth's point.

"See, they know what they want their wedding to be like, in a way, they have it all planned out in their head, how they want it to look and all those details."

"So what do you do?" Logan asked, he could see this happening.

"My advice is, before she gets upset, offer your opinion when she can't decide between 2 things. That way, you know she likes both options, so you can't screw that part up, and you're being involved, so you don't get yelled at."

"Huh…" Logan thought and made a mental note to do just that.

"Okay onto a happier subject…who's planning the bachelor party?" Seth asked.

"Me!" Finn said with excitement.

"Finn, I swear you will die if there are strippers, or exotic dancers, or any other form of scantily clad women at the event," Logan warned.

"You ruin my fun," he said with a pout.

"Maybe, but I would actually like to still be getting married after said party. Besides, Seth here doesn't want to be threatened with divorce papers, and Colin needs to make it to the proposal….and need I remind you of what Honor is capable of if you piss her off?" Logan said, trying to reason with his friend.

"Fine, you're lucky I have a back up plan," Finn declared, while refilling his drink.

"Do I really want to know?" Logan asked.

"I was thinking 2 nights in Vegas…and not for the girls," Finn stated, adding on the last part when he saw the worry on all three of their faces.

As much as Logan hated to admit it, it was a good idea. It would be a hell of a time, and it wasn't a Rory banned activity. Finally, he smiled and said, "I'm in."

"Good, just let me know the weekend, and I'll work out the details,"

"We're pathetic," Colin announced.

"Take that back!" Finn demanded.

"It's true. We're worse than a group of girls. We've spent the majority of our evening talking about relationships, Seth is giving wedding advice, we've barely touched the food, we have DAR food on top of that, and we've only played 4 hands of poker."

At Colin's declaration, the other 3 looked around and saw the truth causing Logan to look at his cards and finally place his bet for the hand Seth had dealt probably 10 or 15 minutes ago.

--

_A/N: Please send in your reviews!_


	22. Monster!

_A/N: As always a thanks to my wonderful beta and to all of you, for the reviews/comments/ideas you send and I hope you enjoy the chapter!_

--

Logan walked into his and Rory's apartment on Friday afternoon, thankful that it was finally the weekend, only to see Rory on the phone with what he assumed was some form of delivery.

"What are you girls ordering?" Logan asked as she hung up.

"Chinese," Rory stated, before asking, "Don't you need to be to Finn's in 20 minutes?"

"Technically, but I'm not expected to be on time," Logan pointed out.

"Into the shower you go," she ordered.

Logan made his way down the hall and immediately went into the bathroom: It had been his intention the entire time to take a quick shower before heading across the hall to Finn's half of the top floor, but Rory telling him to do so was nothing short of amusing. He did take a quick shower, but even still as he was stepping out to grab a towel, Rory opened the door and said, "Hurry up you!"

Logan moved towards the door before she realized where he was, his towel forgotten as he wanted to get her back for rushing him, he grabbed her and Rory let out a shriek before she felt him pull her into his arms and kiss her soundly. She quickly relaxed against his warm body – still steaming from the hot shower. When he finally released her, she sighed in frustration at the lack of contact and then realized she was soaking wet as Logan hadn't dried off before pulling her, fully clothed, into him. She starting yelling when she realized her clothes were now wet, going on about how she'd have to change before Steph or Bri got there. "Logan, why would you do that?"

"Angry works for you," he answered smoothly, while moving past her to find clothes to wear for the night in his closet.

"And this means your goal is to make me angry?" she asked, trying to sound mad, but failing miserably.

"No, but I'm not complaining," Logan retorted and emerged from the closet.

After putting on the clean clothes, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "You look breathtaking when you are angry, and it makes me want you even more than I do every other second of the day." He then moved to kiss her and said, "I love you Ace."

"I love you too," she replied with a smile, but still didn't hesitate to practically push him out the door. "Go, I need to finish getting ready, and now I have to change before they get here."

--

Rory was setting out a full spread of food for the night not knowing what everyone would want to eat. Rory had invited Bri, who happily accepted, but then told her this morning she wouldn't be able to make it. When Rory asked why, Bri had admitted the babysitter she had for Maddy had canceled, and she couldn't find a replacement. Rory immediately insisted she bring Maddy along. Bri was hesitant at first, but finally agreed when Rory said she had an array of Disney movies and milk in the fridge. Rory had ordered Chinese, figuring Maddy would at least eat the boneless chicken, which were practically chicken strips, and bought a few bags of chips and all the works to make the perfect ice cream sundae. She had just finished setting out plates when she heard the door open. Knowing it was Steph because Bri wouldn't just walk in, she turned to see Steph smiling holding a few portfolios.

"Hey girlie," Steph exclaimed, as she threw the portfolios on the table.

Rory greeted her with a hug, "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, ready for our night of fun," She replied and glanced around the apartment, "Is Bri here yet?"

"Nope," Rory said and then seeing the clock asked, "Did you and Colin come here together?"

"Yeah, why?" Steph asked, snitching a chip as she moved with Rory through the kitchen.

"You made him late on purpose, didn't you?" Rory stated, eyeing Steph accusingly.

"Maybe," Steph said innocently, then seeing the look on Rory's face said, "What, it was fun!"

Rory shook her head laughing, and then realized Steph didn't know about Maddy so she quickly filled her in. Steph was surprised, primarily because she wasn't sure how Maddy hadn't been mentioned before this. Steph was about to say something, when she heard a knock on the door. Walking over, she opened it again, this time to reveal Bri holding Maddy. The little girl looked up at her with tired brown eyes and Steph had to admit that she was adorable dressed in her Disney princess pajamas.

"Hey guys, come on in," Rory said happily, walking up behind Steph.

Bri walks in while saying, "Hey Rory, hi Steph."

"Hi," Steph said, then looking down at the little girl in Bri's arms added, "You must be Maddy, I'm Steph."

"Hi," Maddy said quietly, with her head still resting on her mother's shoulder.

"Sweetie, do you remember Rory? She works with Mommy at the paper" Bri asked Maddy.

Maddy nodded, "Hi Rory."

"Hey Maddy, I picked out some movies I thought you might like, want to pick one to watch?"

Maddy smiled and followed Rory into the living room. On the coffee table, Rory had placed _Beauty and the Beast_, _Finding Nemo_, and _Cinderella_ for Maddy to pick from.

"_Beauty and the Beast_," Maddy cheered. Rory moved to put the DVD in and found a blanket and pillow to make her more comfortable.

Rory made her way back into the kitchen where Steph and Bri were chatting. When they saw Rory come back, Bri asked, "So what's the plan?"

"Well, eat, and we can either sit in here and talk or watch the movie with Maddy," Rory offered.

"What movie?" Steph asked.

"_Beauty and the Beast_," Rory replied.

Bri was the first to speak, "Stay in here." The two girls looked at her for an explanation so she said, "I've seen that movie one to many times, I need a break."

"In here it is," Rory declared, and then announced, "food and drinks are on the counter in the kitchen."

The girls started to dish out their food. Bri went first to make a plate of the boneless chicken and plain white rice for Maddy, and then came back to make her own.

Steph was looking at the drinks and asked, "I see coffee, soda, but what's in the pitcher?"

"Drinks mixed by Finn," Rory said with a grin.

"How did you manage that?" Steph asked surprised.

"I smiled real pretty, batted my eyelashes, and voilà…we have drinks," Rory exclaimed while pouring herself a glass.

Rory and Bri laughed, took seats around the table, and began to eat.

"So, who's planning your wedding shower?" Bri asked.

"My mom, after not so subtly reminding my grandma that I was her daughter, and while she knew Grandma wanted to be involved, there were some things that were hers to do. I think she might ask Honor to help so that there is someone from Logan's side," Rory explained.

"So is this going to be Lorelai style or Hartford style?" Steph asked.

"Well, Grandma only stopped arguing with mom when she promised it would be formal enough that her guests would be comfortable. Mom finally agreed, so I'm guessing it will be a mix, but probably more on the formal side," Rory replied.

"So, no scandalous lingerie?" Steph teased, causing Rory to redden.

"No, that would get you into as much trouble as me," Rory reminded her.

"But lingerie to you was my gift for Logan…I don't know what else to get him," Steph whined.

"And, I'm sure he'd appreciate it," Rory said with a smirk of her own.

"I know!" Steph said, throwing her arms up in defeat before pouting.

"Fine, if you must give me lingerie you can, just NOT at my wedding shower," Rory said sternly. Ever since her grandparents found out she was having sex, she'd avoided the topic with them like the plague and did not need to give them any reminders.

Steph quickly agreed to that requirement knowing that she couldn't give lingerie to her friend when any part of Hartford society was around: Her mother would be livid. But, Rory didn't know what type of opening she had just given Steph. She sat there thinking about everything that she could do with that and had to hold in her grin so Rory wouldn't catch on.

They were quiet for a while so Rory asked, "What portfolios did you bring this time Steph?"

"Flowers and veils," she replied, gesturing to them on the table.

"We already looked at flowers," Rory pointed out.

"We just did the general ideas…I want to see what you ended up choosing and figured this would help you in your description."

"I want to see what you picked too," Bri added.

"Well, the bridal bouquet is going to have burgundy calla lilies with a few white roses intermixed in a more cascading bouquet style. The bridesmaids' bouquets will be the opposite, white calla lilies with red roses…the deep red, not the bright red. Those will obviously be slightly smaller than mine," Rory explained while flipping through the portfolio Steph brought to find a picture that closely resembled what she and Logan had decided on. Finding it, she showed it to the girls and said, "Kind of like this, only a little less of the filler; I want them to be simple. Then, Logan will have a single mini burgundy calla lily boutonnière, while the other groomsmen's will be white, as will my Dad's." The girls both nodded and let Rory continue, "I think Grandpa, Mitchum, and Elias will have white gardenias for their boutonnières instead of the lilies. My Mom, Grandma, and Shira will have gardenias for their corsages as well. The aisle will be decorated with bouquets of alternating red and white roses. Then, the arrangement on the table where the unity candle will be will just have burgundy and while calla lilies. We figured that with the candles anything else would be too decorative, especially because the candle is gorgeous. That is all we've picked out, I'm going to figure out where else flowers are needed next time I meet with the rest of the wedding planning team and we haven't decided what to do at the reception yet flower wise, if we even use them at all," Rory joked, since she had finished explaining, and they were looking at the various pictures of what she had chosen.

"That is going to be beautiful," Bri said when she was finished looking.

"It'll be perfect," Steph said giving her a smile.

"So, what choices are there for a veil?" Rory asked, moving onto the next subject.

"First things first: Do you want a tiara, some other type of head piece or combs?" Steph asked, while finding the different styles in the pictures.

"I'm not sure. What do you think?" Rory asked.

"How are you wearing your hair?" Bri asks, flipping through the pictures.

"I haven't decided," Rory admitted, but started thinking about it.

"Well all up, partially up, or down?" Steph asked.

"I thought I'd ask Logan how he preferred it," Rory said before shaking her head, knowing what his choice would be. "Not all up. Probably down and curled, but maybe some pinned back…" Rory offered, going with her train of thought and how she knew Logan liked her hair.

"Then combs would probably look better?" Steph offered, and then added, "Unless, of course, you really want a tiara…I'm sure the fabulous hair dresser your grandmother booked could make it work."

"No, no tiara," Rory said, quickly remembering how weird she felt at the male Yale party a few years ago when her grandmother made her wear one. Besides, she didn't want to look like a disco ball.

"Okay, combs it is. Now what length?" Steph asked.

Rory leaned over to look at the lengths and thought for a few moments before answering, "I don't want it as short, like the ones that go to your shoulder or elbow. As for a max length, I'm not as set there, just that I don't want it longer than my dress. I haven't ruled anything else out yet."

The three girls studied the pictures for a while trying to decide on something, finally Bri spoke up, "I think you either need it to be a little shorter than your train or to your fingertips or knees."

"I agree," Steph stated before Rory had finished processing the suggestion.

"Well, if it was fingertip or knee length I would want it to be either one or two layers, but not bunched up like some of them. I really like the dress and don't want this to cover up the design of the dress. If it was the same length as my dress it would only be a single layer. For any style I don't want much other than a little edging."

"I think that sounds good," Bri said with a nod.

"But, which length?" Rory asked.

"Well do you like any of these veils?" Steph questioned, pointing to the catalogue she had brought.

"Yeah," Rory replied.

"So how about make an appointment and find one of each length, put them on hold, and bring them with you when you go for your fitting. There's no way to tell how it will look unless you try them on together. Besides, Vera may have some veils that could be made to match your dress, you could look into it during your next fitting," Steph reasoned.

"That will work," Rory agreed with a smile, then teased, "Are you sure you weren't secretly married before. You're way too good at this."

"Shhh, don't tell Colin," Steph said in a stage whisper. "So how are the rest of the plans coming?"

"We have locations, a wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses, flowers, rings…" Rory said, ticking items off on her fingers.

"You're forgetting the best part," Steph pointed out.

"What?" Rory asked, trying to figure out what she missed.

Steph sent a glance to Bri and they both said, "The honeymoon."

"I'm not sure where were going," Rory answered.

"And, here, I would have thought Logan would be all over that part," Steph shot back.

"He is." Rory said, letting out a frustrated sigh causing Steph and Bri to grin. "We were discussing it and decided on the Southern Hemisphere…" she continued.

"That's not too specific," Bri stated, cutting her off.

Rory shot her a playful glare and continued, "Right, well…I was distracted and fell into his trap. I picked some locations, and he said he would choose from that."

Steph started laughing, and said, "He never said he had to tell you what he picked."

Rory rolled her eyes and responded with obvious frustration, "I know! All I can say is it's either the South Pacific or South America."

"You can't be too mad Rory: You should have seen that coming. But, you can't complain too much because I know deep down you love his surprises…like the proposal, admit it you were surprised" Steph pushed.

"I was definitely surprised," Rory said with a nod.

"What did he do?" Bri asked, wondering how extravagant the whole thing was.

"He sent Finn and Colin to pick me up instead of coming to pick me up himself. They proceeded to blindfold me and then dropped me off alone without removing the blindfold…I was so pissed at him."

"I can imagine, Colin said you were fuming when they first got there," Steph added, remembering Colin coming home that night.

"Which reminds me, how exactly did Logan have the pull to make you withhold sex from Colin?" Rory questioned.

Steph laughed, "Well, remember when I went to Europe for 2 weeks?"

"Yeah, didn't you visit Logan?" Rory asked.

"Well, first, I took Colin's black card to Paris for a bit of shopping," Steph said casually.

"A bit?" Rory questioned.

"Fine, more than a bit, but it wasn't my worst," Steph argued.

Seeing the shocked look on Bri's face, Rory decided not to push the topic of dollar amount and asked, "So, you do that all the time?"

"True, but that time, he didn't know about it, and he **STILL** doesn't know about it," Steph stressed.

"Okay, but there has to be something else for you to threaten sex...I mean, you like it as much, if not more, than he does," Rory reminded her.

"I hate you," Steph shot back with a pout, before answering. "When we were in London, Logan took me to this bar, and I had a couple drinks."

"How many is a couple?" Bri asked.

"6 or 7...and before either of you say anything, after being friends with Finn for basically your entire life, that _is_ a couple. I may have started dancing on the bar with this other girl and then some guy came up and started dancing with us. I swear I didn't do anything, but Logan has pictures!"

"Do you really think Colin would be that upset?" Rory asked, she didn't think Colin would react that badly.

"About the dancing, no, but about the black card, yes. He doesn't understand why I don't use my own card: It's not like his limit is any higher than mine since neither of them has a limit. No, Logan threatened to show my mother _AND_ her society friends those pictures. Do you know what she would have done?" Steph said frantically.

"That is just evil" Rory mocked, looking at Steph before turning back to Bri and continuing the story, "When he took off the blindfold, I was in a cabin, sitting at a table set for two. We had dinner, which was excellent, and then we moved to the couch and he started talking. Then, he started saying he wanted to talk about the status of our relationship…"

"Oh my god, you thought he was going to break up with you!" Bri practically yelled, and then started laughing.

"How could you think that?" Steph asked, looking at Rory before gasping, "You really thought he was breaking up with you?"

"He looked so serious, and his voice was different, and he said he wanted to talk, and I freaked."

"If Colin made me think he was breaking up with me when he proposes, I would say no just to watch him sweat," Steph said seriously.

"That's just mean. Wait, what do you mean, '_when_ he proposes?'" Rory shot back, but enjoying the panicked look on Steph's face when she realized her choice of words.

Regaining her composure, Steph answered, "Just what I said, when. I mean we've talked about it. Didn't you and Logan ever talk about it?"

"We talked about the future sometimes, but marriage was never specifically brought up. In fact, I don't see Colin bringing it up either, just for a nice afternoon chat, so spill."

"About a year ago, my period came a day late. Ever since I went on the pill, my period has started on Tuesday, without fail Tuesday morning comes, and there it is. We had only been dating for a little over a month at the time, and I didn't even think we were that serious. So when it wasn't there, I started to freak. Colin asked me what was wrong later that afternoon, and I just went nuts and started going on and on about how we're not married, he's in school, and…"

"We get the picture, Steph, what happened next?" Rory asked, wanting to keep Steph on track.

"Well, he calmed me down and got me to watch a movie, and eventually, we fell asleep. I woke up the next morning, and there it was, so there was my answer. I told Colin, and he just nodded and went to lay in bed while I went to get breakfast. Anyways, when he came out, he walked up to me, kissed me, and then told me, 'Just for the record, I plan on marrying you. I think we should wait until I finish school, but I want you to know if something happened and you find out you are pregnant before that day, I wanted you to know that.'"

"Colin actually said that…" Rory said surprised.

"I was shocked too, but we talked more a few days later. You know, after everything settled down. He didn't want to say he was proposing by a certain time, just that he wanted the wedding to be after he graduated. I've been on the look out, even though I think it's a bit soon," Steph said with a smirk.

"Look out for what?" a confused Bri asked.

"The ring. Every month or so, I check all the good hiding placed for the elusive box," Steph stated proudly.

"Don't you think it's a bit early for him to buy one, doesn't he have 2 years left in Law school?" Bri asked, pointing out the time frame.

"Yeah, but if he's thought about it, he could buy a ring if he sees one he really likes," Steph argued back.

"Colin's not stupid. He knows you love to snoop: Do you really think he would leave an engagement ring for you in your SHARED apartment?" Rory questioned.

"What do you know?" Steph mockingly yelled, but her eyes never leaving Rory.

"Nothing, I swear," Rory answered, but holding her hands up in defeat.

"Keep your eyes peeled Rory, he could ask Logan to hide it here. You know, Logan hid your engagement ring at our place for a few months before he proposed…" Steph said seriously.

"What?" Rory yelled.

"Yeah, Logan bought in right before he left London. He went to Paris for the weekend to search all the designers. I only know cause I called him while he was meeting with a designer at Cartier finalizing the ring."

"Oh," Rory said, not knowing how to respond.

"So, back to the topic at hand," Steph stated, "keep your eyes out for the elusive ring box."

Before Steph could continue, Rory changed the subject and asked, "So Bri, we've heard all about Steph and Colin, what about you and Finn?"

"What about us?" Bri asked, becoming shy as the conversation moved to her.

"How was your date? I want details," Steph asked. Rory silently said a thank you that Steph was so easily distracted.

Bri told them all about the date: Coney Island, dinner, the phone call, Maddy, of course Pretty Pretty Princess, and their talk in the hall.

"I'm not surprised, Finn's a big softy underneath it all," Steph stated with a nod.

"What's happened since then?" Rory asked, knowing there had to be more.

"He took Maddy and me to the zoo, which was great. Maddy loved it, she'd never been before, and Finn's good with her. Then, he took me out for a second attempt at dinner a few days later. It was nice, really nice to have them go well," Bri admitted.

"I sense a 'but'…" Rory pointed out, reading her friends expression.

"It's nothing," Bri tried, part of her thinking she was over reacting.

"You can tell us, and we promise not to tell Finn if that's what you're worried about," Steph offered.

"It doesn't really have anything to do with me and Finn," Bri admitted.

"So it's not that he was bad in bed," Steph teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"No!" Bri shouted.

Rory laughed, "Then what?"

"I'm just worried about Maddy?" Bri confessed.

"She doesn't like you dating, or she doesn't really like Finn, or what?" Steph asked, listing all the possibilities she could think of.

"No, she adores Finn," Bri said softly and looked towards the living room.

In the silence, they could hear the music playing from the movie, and that's when it clicked for Rory, and she asked, "You think she's too attached; you're worried she'll be upset if you and Finn broke up."

Bri just nods, "I just don't want to see her get hurt."

"So you planned on staying single until she's older?" Rory asked, seeing that Bri needed to talk this out.

"No, not really. I just didn't plan on having her meet a guy on our first date. I figured if I ever found someone I wanted to date, we'd try it for a while, and as things became more serious and stable, I would have them meet," Bri explained.

"So you and Finn aren't stable?" Steph questioned, trying to get more of an answer.

"Things are good, but we've only been dating for 2 weeks," Bri argued.

"Which is a record," Steph pointed out.

"I know, he told me about his _history with the fairer sex_, as he put, at our second dinner. That I'm his first girlfriend, that he had a long string of one night stands. Which is fine, I'm not going to fret over his past, because as you can see, I have my own, but we've still only been together for 2 weeks. Things can change, he could get bored, he could realize he isn't attracted to me, he could realize…I don't know a million different thing," Bri sighed.

"Finn is definitely attracted to you," Rory stated, trying to ease her fears.

"But he's never had a girlfriend, how does he know what he wants? Looking back, my first boyfriend was probably the last thing I wanted," Bri said frustrated.

"But look at Logan and Colin, we're both of their first girlfriends," Rory said, pointing to her and Steph.

"How is it possible none of them EVER had a girlfriend before the age of 22? They're good looking, they have money, they're charming…" Bri ranted.

"We've been working on that theory for a while, most of the insight coming from Steph…and here's what we came up with," Rory answered, but gestured to Steph to give the explanation.

"Except for Finn, our parents weren't the 'happy couple' type. Their marriages were business arrangements primarily – two blue blooded people needed to merge their assets and produce an heir and continue the family name. So, I think for a long time they weren't ever looking for romance, assuming they would have to have the same type of marriage. They were horny teenage guys, and found out they have the looks and status to find willing girls who would help them ease that problem. I know that sounds bad, but the girls were looking for the same thing, or at the least, were very well aware it was just casual. That went on for a while, and I think they had the mentality of 'it it's not broke, don't fix it.' Which whatever, but over the years, I don't think they ever thought about what they wanted; however, they did figure out what they didn't want. They didn't want to live like their fathers when it came to family. I imagine those lists they subconsciously made of all the traits they couldn't stand were long, so long that they didn't think a girl existed who would fit. I think when Logan met Rory, someone who was different from every other girl, and they were making it work the other two started thinking they could find a girl who was different than society norms too…" Steph said, trying to explain so much.

"We're not saying that things couldn't go wrong, or that you'll be riding off into the sunset. More that they're not the type to settle for something kind of like what they were looking for. They either find it or don't bother sticking around. And as far as Finn and you go, I know you've only been dating for 2 weeks, but you've talked to him many times before that, and while yes, it was casual conversation, if there was something there he didn't like he would never have asked you out in the first place," Rory explained, trying to reassure Bri.

"So what don't they want?" Bri asked shyly, trying to figure out how she fit the profile.

Steph took up the response, "Most girls are eliminated by the big three: Girls who want their money, Girls who want their name, or Girls who want to be their brain-dead trophy wife. After that, I'm sure there are a lot of smaller things, but I also think each had a personality that would fit them best. Logan, I would say, needed someone to remind him he is not a god, and do it often. But, he also needed someone to be his intellectual counterpart: He's incredibly intelligent, but no one was driving it. Colin, well I'm biased, but I think he needs someone to remove the stick out of his ass…"

"That's a beautiful image…thank you," Rory interjected.

"Yeah, and it was stuck for the longest time, almost had to consider surgical removal, but it came free before it went that far. He also needed someone who would make him loosen up and be ridiculous with: He has that in his friends, but needed it with his girlfriend too," Steph replied and then continued on with her list, "Finn, I believe, needs a redhead who will make him be a man. He's so fun-loving and carefree, but he still needs to grow up some. He's a huge softie when it comes to his friends, yet needs someone who will let him be himself and at the same time keep him from emotionally shutting off. He needs someone who trusts him enough to know he will be responsible and mature when it's important."

Bri seemed to smile at that, but asked a question she wasn't sure they had an answer too, "So where does that leave us?"

"If there was no Maddy, and I know there is, what would you think?" Rory asked, trying focus on her feelings, not all of her worries.

"I couldn't wait for the next date. But, there is a Maddy," Bri said.

"I know, we've met, but seriously, just be cautious. Who does she think Finn is?" Rory ventured.

"A friend. I told Finn that for the time being that's all I want to tell her, besides, how do you explain what a boyfriend is to a 3 year old."

"Okay, so other than that, just talk to Finn as things come up," Rory suggested. "And if you are still worried, I can give you my mom's number. I'm sure she went through that stuff too without me even knowing it."

Bri nodded, she wasn't about to give up Finn, but that didn't mean she didn't have concerns and at some point she would need someone to talk to who had been there themselves.

As much as she had already figured out what they told her, hearing it from two of his closest friends made it seem much more like fact and less like speculation. As grateful as she was for their reassurances she didn't want to talk about it any more. "I'm gonna go check on Maddy," Bri said to excuse herself.

--

Rory and Steph were done eating, and started to clean up the table. When Rory walked by the living room, she saw Maddy on the floor, wrapped in the blanket asleep, while the movie was nearing the end.

"Do you want to leave her there or move her onto a bed?" Rory offered, noticing the sleeping girl as well.

"Oh, she's fine on the floor," Bri responded, not wanting to be a hassle.

"It's fine really, it's what guest rooms are for," Rory said with a reassuring smile.

"If you insist," Bri said and went to pick up Maddy. She followed Rory down the hall and then laid her down, tucking her under the covers once again.

The three older girls made themselves sundaes before moving to the family room and settling into the couch to watch a movie. During the first movie, they imitated lines and talked about their favorite parts. When it ended, Rory moved to put in a second.

Rory had been watching the movie, with significantly less conversation, when all of a sudden, the next thing Rory knew, she was being woken up by Logan. She looked around her and saw Colin and Finn doing the same thing with Steph and Bri.

"We fell asleep didn't we?" Rory asked.

Logan laughed, "You always do."

"Okay, I'm up!" she offered with false enthusiasm.

"Did you have fun?" Logan asked.

"I did, what about you?" Rory questioned, hoping it had helped.

"I doubled my money," Logan said proudly.

Rory rolled her eyes, but made her way over to shut off the DVD.

--

"Steph, wake up," Colin tried, but she didn't move so he began gently shaking her shoulders.

"What?" she asked in a half moan, still partially asleep.

"Time to go home," he answered, but his voice was still a whisper.

"Why?" Steph asked.

"Because I'm going home, and you should too. Sleeping on the couch is bad for your back," Colin pointed out, now pulling her into a sitting position.

"Uh…you're with the guys what 5, 6 hours and the stick is already back?" Steph observed, but her voice was still full of sleep.

"What are you talking about?" Colin asked.

"Nothing," Steph muttered.

--

Bri woke up to hear, "Doll, you need to get up."

"Finn?" she asked rather confused.

"Do you know any other extremely handsome Australians?" Finn teased.

Bri rolled her eyes and chose to ignore the question. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, Steph had told Colin she would come over when she was ready to go, so we were just playing, not looking at the time. Next thing we know, Seth gets a call asking him when he was coming home…apparently it was just after 1," Finn began.

"It's past 1a.m.?" Bri asked surprised.

"Yes, so when we realized that, we figured you girls fell asleep, and you did. Now me, being the wonderful boyfriend I am, woke you up."

"I need to call a cab," Bri mumbled, reaching for her cell.

"No, you're not taking a cab. I called my driver; he'll take you home," Finn stated.

"I can take a cab Finn…" Bri argued.

"Just take my car, I don't like the idea of you taking a cab this late at night," Finn pushed.

Bri was going to argue, but saw the look on Finn's face and knew he was just worried about her…which was sweet. "Fine," Bri said while standing, "let me get Maddy."

Bri walked back down the hallway and picked Maddy up, which caused her to wake.

"Mommy?" Maddy asked, but settled back down when she saw that it was her mother.

"Yeah baby, shhh. We're just heading home," Bri whispered, trying to keep Maddy from waking completely.

Maddy was resting her head against her mom's shoulder, but her eyes were open watching the hallway as her mom carried her. They were passing an open door when Maddy saw something that she was sure wasn't supposed to be there and soon sat up in her mom's arms and screamed, "Monster, monster! Mommy!"

As Bri was getting a firmer hold on Maddy, she saw the others who were in the apartment come down the hallway, obviously having heard Maddy scream.

At this point, Maddy was crying and clinging tightly to Bri who was whispering in her ear trying to calm her down. No one knew what to say, but were worried and glanced at Finn. Taking the hint, he walked over and rubbed Maddy's back and asked, "Baby Doll, what's wrong?"

"There's a monster," Maddy said still crying, while pointing to the corner of the study.

Sure enough, as Finn looked into the dark, he saw a shape that looked like a person, except on its head, where there were a bunch of points, and what almost looked like a second set of arms. Although Finn wasn't sure what was causing it to take on a more monster look (instead of a human one), he knew what it was.

Finn moved to step into the study, when Maddy yelled, "No! Don't go in!"

Finn had to smile at her concern, but turned to her and said, "It's safe, I promise." With that he walked into the study and turned on the lights revealing the 'monster,' to be Logan's suit of armor.

Maddy looked at in, less scared, but still obviously confused as to what it was. Logan reached over and picked Maddy up and walked towards the culprit. When they got closer, she reached out slowly and tentatively touched it. Her hand had barely touched the cold metal before she withdrew it.

The rest of the group had followed the pair into the study, but Logan was the first to speak. "Maddy, I'd like you to meet Rupert, my coat of armor."

"What's a coat of armor?" Maddy asked, shyly.

"It's very old. Men wore them along time ago to keep them safe during a fight," Logan stated, opting for the simplest answer.

"Oh, was he a princess?" Maddy asked, her curiosity coming out.

Logan laughed slightly, and glanced back at the pink plastic tiara and feather boa Rory had used to _decorate_ Rupert. "No, he rescued the princess, and Rory just wanted to make him pretty since it wasn't fair that princesses were the only pretty ones," Logan explained, and rolled his eyes at Rory while remembering the explanation she gave when she first did it.

"See sweetie, it's perfectly safe," Bri said walking up over to Finn and waited until her daughter finally nodded her head.

Finn broke the silence and said, "My driver should be here by now, I'll walk you down," before taking Maddy from Logan.

The group all moved back towards the front door and exchanged goodbyes.

Before they left, Bri leaned into Maddy and asked, "What do you say to Rory?"

"Bye Rory, thank you," Maddy said and then turned back into Finn's chest as he carried her out to the car with Bri close behind.

Finn bent down, putting Maddy on a seat and said, "Goodnight Baby Doll."

"Night Finn," she said before curling up and falling back to sleep.

Finn turned to Bri, "Bye Doll," and leaned in to kiss her. He really did mean for it to be it to be quick, but every time he started to pull back Bri pressed one more kiss to his lips. Finally, she pulled back, whispered, "Bye Finn," gave him one last kiss, and turned to get in the car. Finn shut the door behind her and watched it drive away before heading back up to his apartment.

--

After everyone had left, Rory turned to Logan and asked, "So how was boys' night?"

"Must you call it that," he asked.

"What else would I call it?" Rory asked in disbelief.

"Poker night," Logan said simply.

"And that is better?" she shot back.

"Yes, guys' night is too similar to girls' night…gives the impression we were sitting around gossiping the whole time."

"You guys gossip more than we do, don't even try that," Rory argued.

"We do not!" Logan said, but then thought about it and relented, "Fine, just a little bit though."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Rory quipped before walking towards their bedroom.

Logan followed closely behind and when they entered their room Rory made a beeline towards the bathroom to start her nightly routine. Logan went in just as she left to brush his teeth and then stripped down to his boxers. When he walked back into the bedroom, Rory was already in her pajamas and was moving towards the bed after turning off the light. Logan came up behind her and pulled her down with him onto the bed, giving her a deep kiss and silently hoping for his favorite night time activity.

--

_A/N: Send those reviews and let me know what you think about this chapter or even the fic as a whole. I know a lot of you wished for more R/L action here, but you will get your fill in 23, I promise!_


	23. Fuchsia Dragons

_A/N: I hope this satisfies all of your Rogan needs. Enjoy!_

--

Logan opened his eyes Sunday morning, rolled over to glance at the clock which read 10:38, and groaned. He knew they needed to get up, not that they had any plans for the day, but if they slept in too much longer, they would never fall asleep tonight. Rolling over to take in Rory's still sleeping form, he took in details of the moment; she had only worn a tank top and panties to bed last night having been too tired to do anything but throw her pants across the room and remove her bra. She was sleeping on her stomach arms thrown above her head with her face buried in her pillow. He moved behind her and kissed her shoulder blade while sweeping her hair away from her back.

"Ace, time to get up," he whispered in her ear.

"What time is it?" she groaned, but didn't move.

"Just after 10:30, we need to get up," Logan stated, and kissed her shoulder again.

Rory turned onto her back, moving even closer to Logan and kissed his lips before asking, "If I'm awake, do I have to get out of bed?"

"You'll fall back asleep the minute I leave," Logan pointed out; he had fallen for that trick when they first moved in together and had since gotten wiser.

"Then don't leave," Rory managed to say before kissing him soundly.

After deepening the kiss for a while, Logan pulled back and teased, "I'm liking your plan," and then returned to her lips.

Soon Rory was moaning in frustration as Logan continued to tease her body through her clothes, but not moving forward. Needing to make herself clear, Rory reached down and pushed his boxers off and then moved her hands to the hem of her top to remove it as well.

Noticing her movement, Logan got the point and reached down and tugged at her panties, removing the final barrier. Logan hovered over her and continued to the kiss her for a few moments before moving down her neck to seek out her chest. He was just beginning his assault of her breasts when he felt Rory weave her fingers in his hair and pull him back up her body. When she had managed to pull him the whole way up, she kissed him again. Logan smiled at her actions and moved between her legs. Feeling that she was ready, he reached for a condom and immediately moved back to her. As Logan entered her, she let out a low moan and wrapped her legs around him, letting him set the pace.

Logan was soon lost in a blissful haze and wasn't brought out until he heard Rory calling his name. He found himself falling just as her orgasm was subsiding. As he came down, he rested his head on her chest to catch his breath and when he did he moved to look at Rory who smiled and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning Ace," Logan returned with a smirk.

"What is that look for?" Rory demanded.

Logan smiled, and after studying her for a moment, answered, "If that was the response I can expected when waking you up, I would never have been afraid."

"Logan," Rory exclaimed, a blush overcoming her features.

"I'm not complaining, and well, now I'll figure, it's worth the risk," Logan joked, kissed her one more time, and moved towards the bathroom.

Rory lay in bed for a few minutes after hearing Logan turn on the shower and then put her tank top back on and searched for her pajama pants. She walked out to the kitchen to start the coffee. While she waited, she brought in all 3 (Huntzberger) Sunday papers.

When she returned, she filled her mug and sat down, glancing through them unsure where to start. As she did so, she noticed an editorial, which being a newspaper wasn't the surprising part, it was the name on the byline that caught her attention: "Ethics in the Workplace, by Logan Huntzberger." He hadn't mentioned writing a piece, in fact it was his first piece, other than the few he finished or edited during the few crises he oversaw, since taking over the papers in New York, and she was surprised he hadn't mentioned it. Figuring she would ask him when he came out of the shower, she decided to read the article. It went on to talk briefly about the journalistic Code of Ethics and cited some incidents that had been in the media recently. He briefly discussed one case where a former _Times_ journalist, Judith Miller, refused to reveal the source who revealing an undercover CIA agent's identity to a judge and served jail time. He then went on to discuss an issue that currently had the journalism world in an uproar. A prominent governmental journalist was being sued for libel because he had printed several slanderous accusations that were written to hurt a Senator's reelection campaign. The Senator claimed he suffered severe deformation of character and could potentially lose his seat because of the false accusations. For each of the cases, Logan gave an overview of the incident and explained how each journalist was either in the right or wrong, but also discussed that some situations are not black and white. The next portion explained how this was no different than the Code of Ethics found in many professions: Medical, Law, Engineering, and so forth. And, he closed the article by addressing the issue that the journalism world has had an ethical breech recently. He pointed out that many professions have these guidelines, but those facing the journalism industry are many times the most visible – making the journalism case appear worse than it actually is.

Rory had to admit it was a well thought out and presented article. He managed to keep the examples from becoming overly complex, but compared it to other fields which would mean more readers would be able to relate. She also gave him credit for diving into the a big issue: not everything is clear cut, but also pointing out that hindsight is 20/20 and it is unfair to judge what decision would have been 'right' using the information gathered after the fact.

She was reading the article a second time when Logan appeared in the kitchen. She lowered the newspaper to study him. Her silence grabbed Logan's attention, but before he could get too curious, she said, "So I see you're for it."

"For what?" he asked as he moved to get his own cup of coffee.

"Ethics," she said simply and went back to reading the article.

Logan rolled his eyes and made a move to grab the paper, which was successful, but before he could gloat too much Rory said, "I've already read it once…that was the second time."

"Oh," Logan said, trying to maintain a casual tone.

"You never mentioned you were writing an article," Rory said.

"Because you would have wanted to read it and then edit it all the while mocking me for writing about ethics," Logan pointed out.

"I would not!" Rory shot back. At Logan's unconvinced face, she relented, "Maybe just a little, but everyone needs to be edited."

"That's why the paper employs editors," Logan explained sarcastically.

Rory thought for a minute and then offered, "It was good."

"You think? It wasn't my best," Logan confessed. As much as he didn't want her to edit his work, he wanted her feedback because he knew she would be honest.

"Yes, you made excellent points, but also acknowledged the ethics facing different industries, which made it more universal. Well researched too," Rory explained.

"Well I used my research from my paper in college. Saved a lot of leg work."

"Right the mysterious ethics paper…so why wouldn't you let me read it?" Rory said with a pout.

"The paper was more about exploring the grey area found in situations by looking at both sides of an issue," he answered.

"What class was that?" Rory asked curiously.

"Philosophy 382: Ethics in Modern America," Logan answered, "Professor was excellent."

"How often did you actually attend?" Rory asked skeptically.

"Besides the classes I missed because my dad took me out of town?" Logan questioned.

Rory smiled and said, "Sure."

"I think 3 or 4, I really didn't skip as much as you like to think," Logan offered.

"So what inspired this?" Rory asked, gesturing to the article.

"I hadn't written my own article in a long time, and I was in a meeting with the senior staff, when recent events brought up the issue of journalism and ethics. So I volunteered to write it."

"Well, I think you should write more often," Rory stated and then walked into the kitchen.

Logan followed and was watching her. She opened the cupboard and pulled out the toaster then moved to the freeze and dug out the frozen waffles.

"How many?" Rory asked as she took out 3 for herself.

"You know I can make something: omelets, chocolate chip pancakes…" Logan offered. He didn't mind the frozen waffles, they were quick when they went to work, but on the weekend he liked something different.

Rory seemed to study the package of waffles and finally put them all away and smiled at Logan, "Chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream please!"

"How could I forget the whip cream?" Logan teased.

"I have no idea," she said seriously.

"Are you going to watch?" Logan asked as he moved to get out a bowl and the ingredients.

"Can I help?" Rory questioned.

"You can help mix the batter," Logan offered.

"You don't trust me with the stove!" Rory accused.

"Well, that's not it, I just don't want to eat burnt pancakes," Logan argued.

"Who says I would burn them!" Rory huffed.

Logan ignored her comment and continued, "And this is a gas stove, that's an open flame Ace."

"You can help me," she said easily.

"We'll see. Now first, we need to mix the batter," Logan stated and began measuring out the flour and gave it to Rory to pour in the bowl.

After Logan finished adding everything, he picked Rory up, sat her on the counter, put the bowl in her lap, and said, "Stir."

"Yes, sir," Rory replied and gave a mock salute. She picked up the spoon and began to stir, while Logan stood in between her legs. "What are you doing?"

"Supervising," Logan said nonchalantly. Rory just glared at him, pulled the bowl closer and continued with her task. After a minute, she set the bowl down and announced, "All done."

Logan pulled out the bag of chocolate chips and started pouring them in. He finished and handed the bowl back to Rory for her to mix again. She peered in the bowl, and demanded, "More."

Logan rolled his eyes, but added more. She checked again and said, "More."

"Ace, that's enough, don't worry you won't taste the batter…pure chocolate-y flavor," he assured.

"Yay," she cheered with a smile and went back to stirring.

While she did this, Logan got out a pan and a large spoon. He then led Rory to the stove and had her spoon the batter into the pan. After that, she announced it was time for her shower. Logan just laughed and finished cooking making 2 stacks of pancakes. Rory emerged a few moments later, poured them each another cup of coffee, grabbed the whip cream out of the fridge, and joined Logan at the table for breakfast.

--

The work week quickly passed, and soon enough, it was Friday. The morning had been going well: Rory was nearly finished with all of her articles, but then it began.

It was just before lunch and Rory was talking to Sue, a middle aged reporter who was also working on the story about NYC schools. They were working at Sue's desk comparing content, it was never good if facts didn't line up, and were trying to decide on which picture they could use to fit both articles so the articles were seen together.

"I don't like that picture; do we have one showing a group of students?" Rory asked.

"I'm not sure, here you search that pile, I'll look through this one," Sue suggested.

Time passed as both women flipped through the available photos. Just when Rory was about to give up, she heard Sue say, "Found one!"

Rory stood and leaned over next to her to look at the picture, it was perfect. It featured students who went to both private and public schools all standing in front of a bus.

Rory smiled, "Perfect."

Sue glanced up and nodded, then asked, "Why's it on a necklace?"

"Huh?" Rory asked confused.

"The ring, why not wear it," Sue asked, curiously.

"If I wear it people will think I'm engaged," Rory said honestly.

"Not if it's on your right hand," Sue countered.

"Then they'd think it was a promise ring," she supplied.

"So if it's not any of those what is it?"

"It was my great-grandmother's, she left it to me when she passed away, and I thought it would be nice to wear," Rory explained. It was the reasoning she had decided on when she first started working and was surprised when it came out more naturally than she ever expected.

"It's beautiful Ella," Sue complimented.

"Thank you," Rory said with a smile, not sure what else to say and silently praying that she didn't keep up the questions. Quickly she decided to change the subject and get back to work, so asked, "Okay, we have the picture, is there anything else?"

"Nope, I think we're good," Sue stated, after going through a mental check list.

"Lunch!" Rory said happily, and both made their way to the break room.

Rory talked with Sue and a few other reporters as she ate the leftover take out from the night before.

"Just a warning, Mike's going to be on the war path this afternoon," one of the guys announced as he made his way into the break room.

"Why?"

"He just found out Huntzberger junior is coming by today…wants to make a good impression," he explained.

"Well, who wouldn't?" Sue asked, "He's the best connection any of us will make."

"True, just need to make sure I'm working hard while he's around…you think that will work Ella?"

"What?" Rory asked, coming out of her train of thought.

"You know him from Yale, right? So besides working hard, anything else I could do to impress him?"

At this, Rory noticed everyone was waiting eagerly to hear her response. "I just said we were on the paper together, how would I know that answer?" she questioned, trying to avoid answering the question.

"I don't know, it's just, you've talked to him. Come on, you had to have picked up something from your time in the newsroom," someone pushed.

"Besides a work ethic…I'm not sure what else to say," Rory offered, and then excused herself and made her way back to her desk.

Rory finished up her article on the school voucher debate and it's potential impact on NYC schools and was finishing up her story about an interview with a city councilman when Mike came barreling through the room.

"Okay, he just arrived. Please everyone make sure you're working, I'm not sure why he's coming here, but don't want to see anyone get fired today," Mike announced, trying to sound serious, but Rory could tell he was frantic himself. After this, Mike started moving about the room, stopping at random desks to look over that particular reporter's work. He was making a dramatic show of going over photographs with a reporter when Rory saw Logan step off the elevator.

Logan moved towards Mike, and as he did, Rory saw him make a show of being surprised by Logan's presence and then saying, "Mr. Huntzberger, I didn't know you were stopping by. What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to see how various sections were doing and thought I'd drop by," Logan explained smoothly, catching Rory's eye as he scanned the room.

"Yes, well, we're all working hard to finish everything up so it's ready to go for the weekend," Mike explained, smiling as he saw everyone working.

"I can see that, but don't let me affect your afternoon, I'll just be floating around," Logan replied.

Mike returned to what he had been doing, while Logan started walking around the room. He stopped at a few desks to discuss articles and even by Bri's desk, but that turned into something a bit more social. Logan thought they hid that fact well, he figured Rory was the only one to realize that they weren't talking about work. Soon enough, he was making his way to Rory's desk, and noticed how focused she was on her work, more specifically a pile of notes.

"_Ella_," he greeted from behind her, but got no response. "_Miss Danes_," he questioned, trying again to gain her attention. "Ace?" he asked, now wondering what had her so preoccupied.

When that failed to make her turn, he decided drastic measures were needed, so moving up behind her, he reached down, grabbed the pile of notes, and bolted away from her desk. He was no more than two steps away when he heard her chair being pushed back and a frustrated "Logan!" being emitted from her lips. Then, fearing for his safety, all thoughts flew from his head, and the chase was on. Logan quickly started moving through the office with Rory close behind all the while gaining the attention of the other staff members. They weaved through desks until finally Rory stopped when she had Logan cornered.

Logan took another step before turning to face, what he only assumed would be his not so happy fiancé. When he caught sight of her, hands on her hips and a glare on her face, he had to smile.

"Give them back," she said seriously, sticking out her hand.

"No," he said simply and held them over the paper shredder he had luckily found plugged in during his escape.

"Logan, give them back!" she demanded, fear etched in her voice when she noticed his position.

"Why?" he asked, just wanting to see her answer.

"What do you mean why? Those are notes, notes which I need to finish my article for **your** paper," She explained as if he were five.

"I know whose paper this is, but how is that better than this…cause I've got to tell you, this is highly entertaining" he shot back, a smirk in place.

"Because articles are what sell the paper, and as circulation increases, so does your profit," Rory replied.

"I know how it works Ace, come on, you can do better than that," he pushed with a smile and lowered the notes closer to the machine.

She reached for the notes, but he moved them out of her grasp and put his hand on her stomach to keep her at bay. She tried to lunge over the hand Logan had holding her back in an effort to reach her papers he had captive behind his back. This soon had her pressed against him in a hug like fashion while reaching for the notes. Rory finally got a grip with her hand, but soon realized he wasn't about to let go. She released them begrudgingly so they wouldn't be torn in half.

"Miscreant!" she yelled.

"And here I thought we were past that," he teased.

"Well before you were a Butt-faced Miscreant. See, you're growing on me."

"Well that's good to know," he said sarcastically and started laughing at the absurdity of the comment. Almost immediately, he decided he better stop laughing because while he was amused by this, he knew she didn't see a threat to her notes as a joking matter.

"Logan Lyndon Huntzberger, give me my notes!" she exclaimed in a stern voice.

"Or what?" he asked, a troublesome gleam in his eye

"Or you won't be getting an…" Rory began, but then realized what his look was for, and glanced around the room. As she did, she noticed everyone was watching her interaction and knew she couldn't finish out that threat.

Thinking quickly to find a new threat, she said, "I'll tell Finn on you."

"And I fear Finn why?" Logan asked with a confused look.

"Because he's Finn," she said with an arm wave. When Rory noticed he just looked more amused by this, she added, "Two words: naked phase."

"He's grown out that that," Logan said, dismissing the threat.

"True, but every great act needs a revival tour," Rory said calmly, "And, I think he makes house calls."

"Sorry, I survived that once, I can survive again, try again," he said playfully.

"Emily," Rory said simply, but with a smirk of her own.

"What's she going to do, not give me a salmon puff?" Logan asked with raised eyebrows, trying to sound unconcerned by the threat.

"No, but she has lots of friends that can keep you from escaping at the next party," she pointed out, before going for the kill, "And I'm sure they'd just _love_ to know when the next generation will be making an appearance."

"You wouldn't!"

"Wanna try me?"

"Ughhh no," Logan said with a look of disgust, knowing Rory was serious and Emily was fully capable of getting him sucked into that very conversation. He showed his defeat by handing over her notes.

"Now was that so hard?" Rory asked sweetly.

"I think it might have killed me," Logan deadpanned.

"I think you'll live," Rory shot back. With that, she walked back to her desk and once again engrossed herself with finishing her article. Before the day was finished, Rory completed her articles and turned them into Mike. She then asked to leave early, which he agreed to. She was thankful that nobody questioned her about her confrontation with Logan while he was there because she wouldn't be good at keeping up the charade while he was laughing at her.

Rory went back to her desk, but sent a glance in Logan's direction. After she gathered her things, she started towards the elevators. She sent one more glance Logan's direction, and this time, he let his eyes catch hers and then gave her a suggestive smirk and a knowing wink.

--

Logan spent the next hour finishing up with the rest of staff and having a brief meeting with Mike before heading home. When he got there, he saw Rory asleep on the couch, book in hand.

Logan changed his clothes and started dinner before waking her, "Hey Ace."

"Hey Logan," she greeted and then gave him a quick kiss.

"Sorry about today, I forgot where we were," he said honestly.

Rory laughed, "Well for a moment, so did I, but why would you steal my notes?"

"Because I was trying to talk to you, and when you didn't respond, I went on autopilot and did something I knew would break your concentration. Besides, I keep telling you you're hot when angry," Logan said with a smirk.

"So not the point right now."

"Sorry, do you think they'll say anything?" Logan asked, knowing how serious she was about the issue.

"Probably, but I'll know for sure on Monday," she said in a casual tone.

"So you're not mad?" Logan inquired.

"No, I mean, I know they'll find out eventually. I mean, I hopped it would be later, and who knows, it still may be, I can't predict the future."

"How very Zen of you," Logan observed.

"Why thank you, now what are we doing this weekend?" Rory asked, deciding she wasn't going to worry about work until Monday.

"Nothing as of now? Why is there any wedding stuff you that we can take care of this weekend?" Logan asked.

"Not really, but we could go register. That will take time, but shouldn't be too stressful," Rory suggested.

"And, if we do it now none of our family can interfere," Logan observed.

"See I knew I was marrying you for a reason!" Rory stated proudly.

--

The next morning, Rory and Logan decided they would start at the three main places they chose: Michael C. Fina, Williams and Sonoma, and Pottery Barn.

Rory suggested starting at Fina's, explaining, "We need to pick a china pattern."

As they walked into the store, Logan was shocked at how many choices there were and just hoped to leave before dinner. They were almost immediately greeted by a middle aged man, "Welcome to Fina's, my name is Paul, how may I help you today?"

"My fiancé and I are looking for formal tableware," Logan stated simply.

"Are you looking to start a registry or purchase?" he asked.

"We would like to register," Rory said sweetly.

"Wonderful, why don't I let you start browsing while I go get the paperwork. The china is on display in the front left part of the store. It sectioned by style: branded, classic, contemporary, patterned, and whites, but if you'd like to look by brand name, we have catalogs you can browse through, and then I can help you find the ones you like in the store."

"Thank you," Logan said politely and then led Rory to the rows of china cabinets that lined the show room.

"Any ideas of what we should get? You've probably seen more china than me," Rory pointed out.

Logan nodded because she was right, he had eaten off more formal china than he would have liked, but that didn't mean he knew what he was looking for. He looked through various cabinets and found 2 patterns that reminded him of what he had used at most formal dinners.

"Okay what about these two?" he asked, pointing to 2 different styles. Rory looked at them. The first set included white plates that had a decorative gold edging and a rope trim along the ridge and various purple bell shaped flowers in the middle depending on which piece it was. The second had a much more subdued gold and red trim with red birds settled in the lower right corner of the plate. Small clusters of red flowers were placed to offset the birds. Rory looked at the place settings for a while perplexed as to why Logan picked them.

After a while she finally spoke, "Okay first, this purple flower pattern is almost $5,000 a place setting, that is ridiculous."

"Really, it's that much?" Logan asked, he hadn't bothered to look at the price knowing a lot of the guest list wouldn't either. "Okay, that is ridiculous."

"But besides that, why would you pick these?" Rory questioned.

"You pointed out how much _society_ china I've eaten off of, which I have, and this is what it looked like," Logan explained.

Rory saw her mistake and then said, "We're going to try this again, forget all the china you saw growing up and find something you like."

Logan moved around with Rory by his side, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist, when finally, he spotted something, and with a grin, dragged Rory over to where it was on display and pointed.

"No," Rory said firmly.

"Why not?" he whined. "You said pick something that I like, and I did."

"You really want fuchsia dragons on your formal dinnerware?" Rory asked skeptically.

"Only if I can see the look on my mom's face when she sees what we picked," Logan said, still grinning. Rory still held a serious face so he added, "And, I think Lorelai would offer a nice reward, not to mention deify me, if she got to see the look on Emily's."

"You're evil," Rory said, but cracked her own smile.

"So, no dragons?" Logan asked, but now the teasing was clear.

"Sorry, besides, God lived in London, but then Korn moved out so she moved in."

"What!" Logan asked, having totally lost Rory which was unusual since he had become fairly fluent in crazy.

"Gran's God."

"Huh."

"My grandfather was on the phone and he apologized saying it was long distance. My mom asked if it was God. He said it was London…"

"And Lorelai asked if God lived in London," Logan supplied, starting to piece the puzzle together.

"Yes. Then Grandpa explained his mother lived in London so mom said that God is a woman and a relative."

"And she's asking for favors?" he guessed.

"How'd you know?"

Logan just rolled his eyes before returning back to the topic of picking china. "Okay, let's see what you can do if I'm so inept at this."

"You're on," Rory agreed, and then started her own search. Rory returned, took Logan's hand, and led him over to another area. When she stopped she pointed to two patterns, and said, "They're the same brand so the plate shape is the same, and I like that part – it's different, not entirely round. What do you think?"

"I like them both, are you leaning one way or the other?" Logan asked.

"Come on, Logan tell me which one you like, don't just agree with me," Rory pushed.

Logan thought back to what Seth had said during their poker night and figured now was as good a time as any to test his theory. He looked back and forth between the two. Rory was right; they were essentially different colored versions of the same table setting. Both were solid white, but one was trimmed with two decorative silver lines along the exterior with a decorative scroll each time there was a small dip in the edge while the other had the exact same pattern along the edge only in gold but also had a navy blue fill on the rim of the plate.

"Well, I really do like them both," Logan began, still not sure if she'd like his answer.

"But…" she added, indicating she wanted him to continue.

"It seems like the one with just the silver would match everything. No matter if it's Christmas, and you want red; or it's your birthday, and you want purple, or it's St. Patrick's Day, and you want green. With the blue, it just seems like you'd always half to match it," he reasoned.

"I didn't think of that, you're right, silver it is," Rory said with a smile.

Rory starting looking at all the different dishes that came in that design when Paul returned.

"Find anything you like?" he asked, joining the couple.

"I think we have, we like this one," Rory said, pointing to the plate.

"Excellent, now before we get to selecting all the items you would like, we need to get your registry open. Can I get both your names?"

"Logan Huntzberger and Rory Gilmore," Logan offered, calmly.

"Okay, the registry will be under both last names, that makes it easier for those who are shopping for you, which they can do in the store or through our website," he explained.

"That's good to know, most of guests aren't in the New York area," Rory pointed out.

"So, now that we have that set up, we'll start your registry. First, would you like the 5 or 6 piece place setting?" he questioned.

"What the 6th piece?" Logan asked, the set he saw had dinner, salad, and bread plates, plus a cup and saucer.

"A soup plate," he answered, and pointed to one in a different style to show what it was.

"What do you think?" Logan asked Rory.

"That I don't eat salad," she answered easily.

"Right, the 6 piece setting it is," Logan said to the man.

"Okay, how many settings will you be needing?"

"Well just the immediate family would be…11," Rory said after counting in her head.

"And the guys would be 4 more," Logan added.

"Well 16 then?" Paul asked.

"That should be good," Rory agreed.

"Well…" Logan interrupted, "you better make it 30."

At Rory's questioning look, he explained, "We'll eventually have to host a dinner party. Plus, with Finn and Colin, you need to assume that at least a few pieces will be broken." He then moved closer and caressed her stomach, whispering in her ear, "Besides, our family will only grow." Rory blushed at the intimate gesture, but nodded in agreement to Logan's reasoning.

"Now, what serving platters would you like?" Paul asked, bringing the two out of their private conversation, showing them a display that had a full formal dinner set out. They picked out a few serving platters, gravy boats, and all the other table necessities.

"Why don't we do stemware next," he offered, guiding them to a different section of the store.

Logan stared at the display and decided they all practically looked alike and eventually ended up choosing a simply cut crystal design and ordered water goblets, red and white wine goblets, and champagne flutes for each place setting.

"What about other drink glasses?" Logan asked.

"There are a few other styles they make," Paul answered.

"Can we get 10 highball glasses?" Logan asked.

"For what?" Rory asked.

"Well sometimes, I like a drink with dinner, not just wine, and when kids are there, I don't think you'll want them using a stemmed glass," Logan pointed out, and Rory nodded in agreement.

They were finally finished with the store after they picked out flatware, three types of candlestick holders, two decanters, and a few formal vases. They thanked Paul for all of his help and left for Williams and Sonoma.

They were once again greeted and set up another registry, but since there was more in that store, they were given a scanner and could walk around and scan the items they wanted. Once they were done, they would go over the list with someone from the store to make sure everything was in order.

Logan gave the woman who had helped them a nervous smile as he saw Rory grin when she handed her the scanner.

The first area they found themselves was kitchen supplies. Since they had lived together for a while, there were a lot of basics they didn't need like a toaster or blender. Logan did however want to pick out a new set of pots and pans, claiming they had gotten a beating when he lived with Finn.

"What about regular dishes?" Logan asked as they moved through the store.

"Well, we have those, and they are in good shape, but we could use a few serving dishes," Rory answered.

Logan looked around at all the white dishes. "How about plain white," he teased. Rory shook her head, but scanned the items.

Rory walked around the kitchen when something caught her eye, she turned and saw Logan looking at some cookbooks and quickly turned to scan the item.

"What are you scanning?" Logan asked, sneaking up behind Rory.

"Nothing!" she said, and hid the scanner behind her back.

"Uh huh, try again Ace," Logan pushed.

"An ice cream maker," she said innocently.

"Why would we need an ice cream maker?" Logan asked.

"Because then I could make coffee ice cream to the appropriate strength?" she asked, hoping he would agree.

"Any other reason?" Logan asked.

"Because it's the only thing we've picked out that I'd use. I mean I don't really cook, and china's nice and all, but not that exciting. And what else is on the list: linens and stuff," Rory pointed out.

"I've been thinking, I mean there's a lot we don't need since we've lived on our own already, so how about we register at Stars Hollow Books as well. We could pick out some coffee table books, maybe you can even select a few for yourself," he tried.

"Okay, let's keep moving," Rory agreed happily and then dragged Logan to the section with bar accessories. "Logan, why don't you pick out some things here," Rory suggested.

Logan smiled and asked, "Can I use the scanner?"

Rory looked hesitant before handing the device over. Logan picked out an array of glasses: martini, margarita, shot, tumbler, pint, and pilsner. Then he found a wine rack, a martini shaker set, and an ice bucket.

Finally, they ended their day by selecting a few sets of formal and informal tablecloths and napkins. They went over their list before heading out to their last store of the day.

When they reached Pottery Barn, they found it was set up much the same way. Their first items were guest towels and also some nicer one for their own bathroom, with coordinating bath rugs and shower curtains. They also selected a red comforter with ivory sheets for one guest room and then a light blue comforter with white sheets for the other.

"Okay, do we want new bedding for our room?" Rory asked.

"We should, I mean what we have now was mine and is getting old anyways. We should pick something out that's both of ours," Logan answered.

Rory looked through the choices and quickly noticed most were pretty feminine. She didn't really want a flower pattern and figured Logan wouldn't either, but decided to have some fun.

"Oh Logan, look at this!" She said excitedly and pointed too a cream comforter with pastel flower scroll all over it hiding most of the cream background.

"Really, that one?" Logan asked surprised.

"Isn't it great! Please can we get it?" she asked, with a pout she knew he always gave into.

After looking at Rory, the pattern, and back at Rory again, he sighed and said, "Sure Ace."

Rory just broke out laughing, "I can't believe you agreed, that thing is so ugly!"

"I can't believe I feel for that," Logan groaned.

"But seriously, how about this sage green comforter with these light tan sheets?" Rory asked. Logan looked it over and although it was simple, they were high quality and would be extremely comfortable.

"See, I knew you weren't the devil," Logan replied and smiled at her while scanning the items.

The last items they picked were two large brown leather chairs for the study, a table to put between them, and some accessories for the gas fire place that was already there.

--

Logan fell onto the coach, "That took way longer than I expected," he whined.

"Awww, poor baby," Rory replied sarcastically.

"I'm serious, I don't know how Steph and you can go out shopping all day," Logan complained.

"Well, I don't do regular exercise and neither does Steph, so a shopping marathon is as close as we get. It's for the good of our health really," she said.

"Tell my accountant that," Logan said and leaned back so he was now lying on the couch.

"Just give me his number," Rory said happily and then plopped herself on top of Logan before moving to straddle him, causing him to groan.

--

_A/N: Please send me your thoughts and feedback!_

_In response to a request Christi and I (well mostly Christi) are working on posting up the pictures that go with the story (the rings, wedding dress and such). All of this can be viewed at _http://lynntgol. there should be a link in my profile but it's taking a while to update so I added the address here as well. The site has some information and pics posted now, but give us a few days and a lot more will be up. However, if there is something specific you want to see please let us know and we'll do our best! 


	24. Home Wrecker

**_A/N: First, the blog (which is now linked off my profile) is up and running with various pictures and information. Christi (who is basically a co-author, much more than a beta) has posted most of it so a big thank you for that! But now we want to know if you like it or looked at it or any sort of feedback you'd like to give! _**

_**Here's the chapter, hope you like it….**_

--

Rory walked into work on Monday morning not sure what to expect. She figured something would be said, but wasn't sure what, and to be honest, she was a little nervous. She made her way to her desk, checked her email for this week's assignments since Mike had a meeting, and engrossed herself in work before questions could arise. She was well into her research when Bri showed up at her desk.

"Hey," Bri said quietly.

Seeing the nervous look on Bri's face she asked, "How bad is it?"

"Could be worse," Bri answered, trying to make it sound better, "They're curious, that's for sure, and are currently exploring every theory under the sun."

"Any of them right?" Rory questioned, doubting it, but needing to know.

"No, but some much closer than others. I just wanted to give you a heads up."

"Thanks," Rory replied sincerely.

"Anytime, but I need to get back to work. Let me know if there is anything I can do," Bri offered with a sad smile.

"Okay," Rory answered and then returned to her work.

Rory soon found her mind wandering to the point where she could no longer work. As she looked around the room, she saw most people working, or at least at their desks, but there was a small group gathered talking. Wondering what was so interesting, she leaned back in her chair and started to pick up a small group of her coworkers' conversation in full swing since Mike was out of the office.

"Do you think she's his ex?" a photographer asked.

"They seemed too relaxed around each other to have had sex. Besides, would you be happy to see your ex?" Sue pointed out.

"Well, maybe they dated and it mutually ended or something…" he pointed out.

"Maybe she dated one of his good friends," another reporter interjected.

"Maybe they just had a fling, you know no hard feelings," he suggested.

"That could be, I mean we've all heard what he was like in college," the reporter shot back.

"Ella doesn't seem like the type of girl who would have a casual relationship with the likes of Huntzberger…" Sue pointed out.

"Maybe she thought she could sleep with him to get some connections – you know meet his father, get a job. Or even thought he would marry her so she'd be related to the icon of her profession," the reporter hypothesized.

"That really doesn't seem like her. If they slept together, they dated."

"But still wouldn't it be weird?"

"Maybe it was a long time ago."

"I guess, and she has a boyfriend, and he has a fiancé," the reporter finally relented.

"Maybe she's his girlfriend on the side," the photographer offered.

"What about the boyfriend?" the reporter questioned.

"Yeah, well, she said she has a boyfriend, he would still be her boyfriend, he would just have a fiancé as well."

"And the only evidence we have of his existence were flowers on her first day and her word?"

"I mean, she never comes in saying he did something sweet the night before. We've never heard him call or stop by, heck she doesn't even wear a lot of jewelry besides a necklace. I hardly think the boyfriend would have only ever given her a necklace."

"Actually, she told me that she wears her great-grandmother's engagement ring on the chain so I'd imagine she bought the necklace herself," Sue interjected.

"Maybe they dated, but he needed someone from society so his parents set him up with the Gilmore. They could still see each other."

"Has Bri even met the elusive boyfriend, we all know they are friends?"

"I'm not sure, I never asked," the photographer admitted.

"Okay, say that they have something going on the side, do you think she'll keep it going even after he is married?" the reporter asked, getting to the good part.

"No idea, but I don't see Danes as a home wrecker." Sue interjected.

"Well…"

Rory didn't hear the rest of the conversation as her thoughts came to a halt when they mentioned home wrecker. It was something she hadn't thought about in a long time, and while she had come to terms with what happened, she knew it would always be her deepest regret. As the memories resurfaced, she knew she needed to get out of the office for a breather. Walking over to Bri's desk, she grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the office and down the street to a café. After Rory and Bri got their extra large coffees, Rory walked to a secluded booth and sat down.

Bri studied her for a moment, still confused by what had happened, and asked, "Not that I mind coffee, but what's up?"

"I needed to get out of there for a while, and I figure Mike won't be back for at least an hour so we'll be back in plenty of time."

Bri noticed the distress on her friend's face and took a guess, "Was it that bad?"

"Huh?" Rory asked confused.

"The gossiping, isn't that why you left?"

"Kind of," Rory confessed and realized Bri knew nothing about the situation that was on her mind and was trying to decide if she wanted to explain it all.

"Want to talk about?" Bri offered, mostly out of concern, but part of her wasn't sure what else to say.

Rory let the silence hang while she debated. Did she want to talk about it? It wasn't like it was something new, but also knew it was something she would always carry with her; her cross to bear. And she trusted Bri, but it was long in the past and she wasn't sure how talking about it would change anything. Did she really want to get into it again? But then, maybe it would help to get a completely outside prospective, someone who didn't know her when it happened. The only other people she had ever told were Lane, Logan, Steph, and Paris. Her mom knew because she came home and found them together, and she knew Finn and Colin were aware of the basics, as were Luke and Sookie, but that was because they could piece it together from witnessing the drama, not from a lengthy discussion.

After taking a few calming breaths, Rory decided to just say it, "They called me a home wrecker."

"What?" Bri asked, obviously not following why that had elicited this response from Rory.

"They were on the theory about how we have something going on the side."

"Yeah, I heard that one," Bri admitted.

"And then someone asked if they thought we would keep it going after Logan was married."

"Uh huh," Bri said, trying to help Rory along.

"Then Sue said she didn't know, but I didn't seem like a home wrecker."

"Okay…what's wrong with that?" Bri asked shyly.

"But I am," Rory confessed as tears filled her eyes.

"Are what?"

"A home wrecker," Rory admitted sadly as a lone tear fell down her cheek.

"What are you talking about Rory?"

"I lost my virginity to a married man," Rory whispered.

"Did you know he was married?" Bri asked, that definitely didn't sound like Rory.

Rory nodded, "He was my ex-boyfriend, he got married right after high school graduation. I was actually invited to the wedding."

"Oh," was all Bri could think to say.

"And, I knew people would think I was sleeping with Logan, or at least had in the past, and I was laughing it all off because I know…but the word 'home wrecker' brought up the old memories, and I needed a breather," Rory explained.

"Understandable," Bri offered.

"I was so stupid, I knew he was married, I even brought it up when he came over that night. Why didn't I stop him?" Rory asked, still mad at herself for letting it happen.

"So you wish you didn't have sex?"

"Not with Dean, or at least a married Dean."

"You wouldn't rather have waited for Logan?"

"I never really thought about it," Rory admitted while she started to really think about the question.

"That's surprising," Bri replied, she knew she thought a lot about her first time and did a lot of wishing it had been different.

"I guess on some level the idea of Logan being the only person I've ever been with would be nice," Rory answered, sifting through her thoughts out loud.

"But…" Bri offered, seeing that this wasn't something Rory had thought about.

"I think if I would have been a virgin, Logan and I wouldn't have worked," Rory supplied.

"What? Why?" Bri didn't expect to hear that.

"In a weird way, it brought me out of my shell."

"You don't think that would have happened another way?"

"It wasn't just the sex, but everything else that happened…Dean was the perfect boyfriend when I was 16, but I wasn't 16 anymore…but in a way, I still saw him as that perfect boyfriend. After it happened and everything sunk in, it smashed that image I had of him. I realized we weren't 16 anymore, and while he was my perfect _first_ boyfriend, he was not _the_ perfect boyfriend."

"And you needed that?" Bri asked.

"I think so; I spent a lot of time wondering _what could have been_ after the guy I broke up with Dean for left town."

"So it made you move on?" Bri tried.

Rory thought for a minute and then nodded, "But, before that, I hadn't done more than make out, I was shy around guys…unsure of myself and if they found me attractive, I always wanted them to make the first move. Even then, I thought they were doing it as a joke to make fun of me because I couldn't see how anyone thought I was attractive."

"I think every girl is like that in a way," Bri offered with a smile.

"Before that happened, I don't think I would have ever considered a relationship with a guy like Logan."

"Why not?" Bri asked curious.

"I probably would have thought he was joking around by pretending to hit on me because he would never like a girl like me."

"And after everything happened?"

"I was more confident around guys…like I knew what I was doing."

"That makes sense," Bri answered, she remembered going through something similar.

"But you know what else…if I hadn't, I wouldn't have understood."

"Understood?" Bri asked, needing some clarification.

"Logan's history with women. I know it was only Dean before Logan, but it made a difference."

"How?" Bri asked. Rory was getting into unfamiliar territory for her.

"When I'm with Logan, it means so much to me, and I know it does to him as well."

"Okay…" Bri said, not sure how the two connected.

"If that was the only way I had ever experienced sex, I wouldn't know it's not always like that…I wouldn't understand how I was different from any other girl he had been with."

Seeing Bri nod in understanding, Rory admitted, "I think I would have driven myself insane thinking about them."

"So all those women don't bother you?" Bri wondered, she was curious about the answer because Finn had a similar history.

"I didn't say that. I just think I would have thought he could have easily substituted me with any of them, but what we have is so much more than the sex, and that's what makes it work. Now, I still don't like thinking about all the women he's been with, but I don't see them as a threat either."

"Does Logan know about everything with you and Dean?" Bri asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"Yeah, he was there when we broke up for the last time, but I didn't tell him everything until later."

"And he's okay with it?"

"I think he was surprised, but he saw that I regretted it. And I know, he has things he would change…"

"Like all the girls?"

"I think some of the girls he would take back, but not all of them," Rory admitted.

"Really?" Bri asked surprised.

"You know how they say the grass is always greener?" Rory asked.

"Yeah…"

"I think if he hadn't had a life of loveless one night stands, he wouldn't know how special love really is."

"That doesn't make sense," Bri pointed out.

"For most of us, I would agree. But he's rich…there will always be some women who will throw themselves at him. And as much as I hate to say it, a lot of men in society have affairs, and if he had only had committed relationships, I think he would eventually wonder if there was something to it."

"But since he's been there, and I guess, done that, he knows he won't wonder what he is missing."

"Yeah," Rory said softly.

With Rory's confession out, both women got lost in their own thoughts for a while until finally Rory said, "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For asking questions. The last time I talked about this was with Logan, but that was for completely different reasons. Other than that it was with my Mom or friends, but it was when it was going on so I wasn't thinking about the big picture."

Bri nodded, "Feel better?"

"I still can't believe I did that," Rory groaned.

"But?" Bri teased, seeing that Rory was much calmer now.

"It got me Logan," Rory stated. The two girls got a refill on their coffee and then headed back to the office.

--

Rory had worked through the morning with a much better focus. It's not that she was happy it had happened, but after her talk with Bri, she had made peace with it. Because as much as she regretted it, it was part of what got her Logan, not to mention where she was today. That was something she wouldn't change for the world.

Mike had returned from his meeting and made this way through the office making sure everyone was clear on their assignments and asking if they had any questions. Time seemed to fly, and the next thing Rory knew, it was lunch hour. As she walked towards the break room, she took a deep breath. She was well aware that they had been talking about her for a good portion of the morning.

"Hi," Rory greeted as she entered the break room not wanting them to know she had heard them talking.

"Hey," was heard from various people.

Rory walked to the refrigerator, took out the sandwich she had brought and then found a seat. After she had taken a bite someone asked, "How was your weekend Ella?"

"Good," Rory replied vaguely.

"What'd you do? Anything fun?"

"Just spent sometime with my boyfriend," she answered, wanting to stay as close to the truth as possible.

"Is it serious?"

"My boyfriend and I?"

"Yeah, you know are you exclusive or is it more of a….casual thing?" someone else asked.

Rory knew what they were getting at, so replied, "It's exclusive, has been for a while now."

"That's great!" Sue exclaimed.

"It is," Rory replied with a smile, she guessed Sue didn't want the affair rumor to be true.

An awkward silence filled the room until someone blurted out, "What's with you and Huntzberger?"

"I told you, we went to Yale together."

"But that's not it, you weren't acting like mere acquaintances, it was something more."

"We worked together on a few stories at the Daily News, and he saved the issue one night when we had a problem with the printer. We also have a mutual friend."

"How good is this friend?"

"It's Finn," Rory replied.

"The guy Bri's dating?" someone asked, remembering the eccentric guy who had been by the office. He didn't seem like someone Huntzberger would be friends with, he didn't appear to be society.

"Yeah, he's a good friend of mine, but he's known Logan for a long time."

"But he had a nickname for you," someone pointed out.

"Who, Logan?"

"Yeah."

"Ace?" Rory questioned. When she got a nod in response, she continued, "It was a nickname I got because of the paper. I had a reputation for having front page articles more than anyone else on staff, plus I surprised him when I managed to get information for a story that no one else ever had."

"What was the story?"

"It was about a secret society on campus, well after that, the nickname Ace surfaced, you know like the ace reporter."

"And that's all it was?" someone else asked skeptically.

Rory sighed and said, "It's not some scandalous relationship like I'm sure you're thinking."

"Okay," someone stated.

Rory wasn't sure if they believed her or decided continuing to question her was useless, either way, Rory was happy that the inquisition was over. When she finished her lunch, she was happy to return to work and hoped her answers would keep them satisfied for the time being.

--

Logan arrived at the _Times_ hoping for a relaxing day, but in the back of his mind wondering what was happening with Rory at the _Observer_. He would be spending most of his morning meeting with the advertising department. After two hours, Logan called a 15 minute break saying he needed to check in on a few other things, in all reality he just needed a few minutes out of the room. As he exited the conference room, he made his way towards his own office only to be stopped by his secretary.

"Sir, I have a few messages for you."

"Let's here it," Logan offered in a flat voice.

"The manager over at the _Village Voice_ would like you to call him back, he needs your approval on a few things. The CFO called wanting to go over a few numbers, and finally, your mother wants to meet for lunch," she ticked off and then handed him the paper with all of the necessary information.

"Thank you," Logan replied and walked into his office. Looking at the messages, he decided to call his mother back first, just to get it out of the way. She explained that she was in New York shopping for a dress for an upcoming function and wanted to see him. Logan was hesitant, but in the end agreed hoping it went well.

--

Logan finished his meeting just in time to make it across town to the restaurant where he was meeting his mother. He was nervous because he hadn't spent any significant amount of time with her since their fight and his subsequent blow up at the _Times_ party.

"Mom," Logan said and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

"Logan dear, I haven't seen you in weeks, how have you been?" Shira asked as if nothing had ever happened between them.

"I'm good, how are you?" Logan asked, fighting an eye roll at her false behavior.

"I've been well. Now, I was hoping to discuss a few things with you," she stated as she browsed the menu.

Logan just waited, knowing she would talk when ready. Finally, she set the menu down and said, "Now, I know you wouldn't say anything while _she's_ around, but if you've changed your mind, it's not too late to call off the wedding."

Logan stared at his mother, mouth open, in shock at what his mother had just suggested. Finally, he found his voice and managed to screech, "**SHE**, mother, has a name. It would do you well to learn it."

"But sweetheart," Shira cut her son off before he could continue, "she cannot possibly understand the type of life we lead, and I know you will come to your senses, but if it goes on much longer, I won't be able to cancel the wedding…"

Logan couldn't believe her, and with a firm voice said, "I am marrying Rory, and if this was what you wanted to discuss, I should just leave."

"No, I just wanted to make sure you hadn't changed your mind," Shira said simply.

During the fierce silence that followed, a nervous looking waiter arrived to take their order. Once he left, Logan asked, "What is the purpose of you asking me here?"

"I wanted to discuss the wedding," she stated.

"What about it? Rory has everything under control," Logan asked, attempting to dismiss her question while going on the offensive at the same time.

"I'm sure that's what she thinks. But let's be honest, she knows nothing of planning a society event. If we act now, we can have a fix when it all comes crashing down."

"What?" was all a shocked Logan could get out.

"I know we'll have to work with what she's already set, but there are still some things that can be done. I was thinking we could put the Country Club ball room at Martha's Vineyard on hold, it would be perfect. Now what size dress does she wear?" Shira asked.

"Four, why?" Logan responded, not knowing where his mother was taking this.

"I'm going to talk to a designer and have a dress made," Shira explained. Before Logan could say anything, Shira continued, "I know a florist I can call as well…"

"Stop!" Logan demanded.

"Logan, she's not here…she'll never have to know you were a part of this…"

"Mom stop, everything is being planned," Logan began.

Before he could continue, he was cut of by Shira, "I know it is, I want to make sure it's being planned right."

"You're worried something being planned by Emily Gilmore, the event planning queen of the DAR isn't being done right?" Logan asked.

"Now Logan, we both know she isn't planning it. I saw her at the country club last week, and she said she hasn't heard anything since the last planning session we had. That means all of this is being done _her_, not Emily."

"So? Rory is in the DAR as well, and while she isn't highly active, she planned one of their most successful events to date," Logan countered.

"Is she going to serve macaroni and cheese again?" Shira asked snidely.

"Mother," Logan yelled as loudly as he could without drawing attention to himself, "You called me before that party Rory planned claiming it was the society event of the year and anyone who's anyone would be there. I think it's safe to say that Rory can plan a party worthy of the DAR.

"She chose the menu for that party to fit the theme of the event, which everyone raved about, so the food will be picked to match this event, a wedding, as well.

"Now, Vera Wang is designing her gown. Stephanie found the florist we are using. And Sookie has been calling at least once a day with some new food she wants us to try before we finalize the reception menu," Logan seethed, finishing his rant.

"Is the florist Stephanie recommended the one Cynthia used the last time the Vanderbilt's threw a party?" Shira asked, ignoring the rest of what he said.

"I'm not sure," Logan replied. Upon seeing Shira's questioning tone, he added, "Mom, relax. Rory can plan a party; her mother was an event coordinator at her old inn before she opened the Dragonfly, and she still does all the planning herself; and Emily is the glorified party planning queen. Between the three of them, they can plan the perfect wedding."

"You don't know that, Emily is not involved, and _she_ and _her mother_ know nothing of this lifestyle…"

"This lifestyle? Rory's in the DAR, can you say the same thing?" Logan pushed, knowing his mom hated being on the outside of the elite group.

"By a technicality, I told you…"

"Do _not_ finish that sentence. Do I need to remind you of what is on the line?"

"What are you talking about now Logan?"

"Would you like to be at my wedding or not?" Logan asked, reminding her of his previous threats.

Shira laughed, "You weren't being serious Logan."

"Yes I was, I will not listen to you talk about her like that. If I hear you are anything less than courteous the next time you meet, you will not be in attendance. And, I don't think you want to explain to everyone why you aren't at your own son's wedding. Because if it comes to that and people ask, I won't cover for you."

Shira stopped dead at his last point unsure how to proceed. The food arrived allowing Shira a few moments to regain her composure. Once she did, she said, "Now Logan, it isn't proper to spread your personal business among our acquaintances."

"It's all that matters to you, and don't try to bring dad into this, it won't work."

"I don't want to cause a scene, that's why I asked you here alone," Shira explained.

"Is there anything else you wanted?" Logan asked, needing to move the conversation in another direction.

Shira knew she shouldn't continue on the subject so the two sat in relative silence as they finished their lunch.

As they were finishing up, Shira asked, "When are you coming home next?"

"I'm not sure," Logan said vaguely and walked his mother to the door before saying his goodbye.

As Logan made his way back to his office, he was still shaking his head at his mother. He couldn't believe her reason for wanting to meet. That certainly put a damper on his day: He just hoped that Rory's was going better than his.

--

Later that afternoon, Logan dialed his phone and soon heard the familiar greeting of, "Huntzberger," come over the line.

"Dad," Logan replied.

"Logan, what can I do for you?" Mitchum asked.

"Nothing work related, do you have a few minutes or should I call back later?" Logan asked, knowing his father would not like being interrupted during a meeting.

"My last meeting finished early so what is it?"

"I had lunch with mom," Logan stated.

"What did she do?" Mitchum asked.

"She was trying to plan our wedding her way behind Rory's back and went on about how she isn't good enough. She even had the nerve to suggest that I call the wedding off…I thought you were going to talk to her."

"I did, but obviously she didn't actually listen to what I said."

"I don't care, I just don't want her to say anything the next time she sees Rory," Logan explained.

"Would you really keep her from the wedding?" Mitchum asked.

"Yes, because I don't want to worry what she might say to Rory on _her_ wedding day," Logan reasoned, "it **will** be the happiest day of her life, and if that means that mom can't come, so be it."

"I'll talk to her Logan, but I can't make any promises, you know how your mother gets. I just need to know if you're willing to go through with the threat."

"Without a doubt," Logan said firmly.

"Hopefully, she'll stop once she realizes you're serious about cutting her out of your life. I know how much you mean to her."

"She sure has a funny way of showing it…" Logan muttered under his breath.

Mitchum had to chuckle at his son before asking, "Now that I have you on the phone, how are things going in New York?"

Logan rolled his eyes, as much as his relationship with his dad had improved, it still always came back to business. The main difference now was that there was more too it than work, but still, he filled him in on the subject.

--

Logan walked into their apartment to find he was the first one home. He quickly changed into something more comfortable and turned on ESPN while he waited for Rory to get home. It wasn't too long before he heard Rory making her way into the apartment. She spotted him and smiled, but headed to their room to change.

When she returned, Logan noticed she looked more relaxed and pulled her down next to him and gave her a brief kiss.

"How was your day?" Logan asked, turning down the volume of the TV.

"I've had better," she replied honestly. She had spent a lot of time thinking that afternoon and knew she needed to tell Logan what happened, but that didn't mean she liked it.

"Do I need to fire someone?" Logan joked.

"That's not funny, and no, you don't," Rory answered.

"Okay, then what happened?" Logan asked.

Rory proceeded to explain the rumors that had been going around and then her morning escape with Bri. When she told him, in a more concise way, what they discussed, he offered, "I don't think I would have ever looked at it like that, but I think in a weird way, you were right."

"Really?" Rory asked, it had all made sense when she was talking with Bri, but after, she was worried that she was just trying to rationalize it.

"Yes, and as much as I don't like thinking about my past, your theory has some merit. But I also think that we can't go through and think about every if…"

"What?" Rory asked, trying to suppress a laugh.

"I don't want to think about all the circumstances that would or would not have led to us being here, because really, that's all that matters to me. Not what happened before," Logan said firmly.

Rory only nodded and then Logan asked, "What happened when you got back to the office?"

"I was questioned about my _boyfriend_ and then about you, even more specifically the nickname Ace," Rory answered and then regaled the key points of her interrogation.

"Do you think they believed you?" Logan questioned.

"I'm not sure. On the one hand, they found the whole exchange odd and know it meant there was more to our relationship than what meets the eye, but on the other hand, why would I be lying. There is no way they think I'm your fiancé, which makes me feel better."

"Well, that's good to know."

"What about you anything fun happen today?" Rory teased.

"It was the usual except for lunch," Logan offered.

"What happened at lunch?" Rory questioned, usually that was the calmest part of his day.

"I had lunch with my mom," Logan admitted.

"What did she want?" Rory asked, becoming slightly defensive.

Logan sighed knowing she would get it out of him eventually so decided to try a more direct approach, "She wanted to re-plan the wedding."

"Re-plan?" Rory questioned, not knowing if she really wanted to hear the answer.

"A full wedding lying in wait for when the one you've been planning collapses."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, but don't worry, I made myself clear that it was not needed or wanted," Logan began before explaining what had happened.

Rory groaned so Logan said, "I'm calling my dad later tonight to talk to him about it."

Rory nodded and leaned further into Logan. After a while Logan asked, "Are we ordering in?"

Rory nodded and went to the take out drawer she created upon their moving in to pull out their choices. After a few minutes, they decided on an Italian restaurant when Rory claimed she needed garlic bread.

--

Rory walked into work Tuesday morning hoping it would go better than the day before. She noticed that while a few people looked her way, for the most part, everyone was at their own desk seemingly working. She made her way to her own and settled in for her day. She made a few phone calls to set up an interview and then began her research for her second article.

She was so deep in thought that she never heard the elevator open nor did she notice the rest of her coworkers' terrified looks. It was only when she heard a voice she recognized, a voice that she was completely surprised to be hearing here that she looked up from here work.

She looked up in time to see Mitchum Huntzberger walk up to Mike and introduce himself.

"Mr. Huntzberger, is there anything I can do for you?" Mike asked.

"I had a meeting in the city this morning, and after hearing such good reviews from Logan, I decided to visit a few sections," Mitchum said smoothly. It was true, he did have a meeting, and he did want to see what changes Logan had made, because he knew the _Observer_ had improved significantly since Logan took over, but he choose this section because he wanted to check in on Rory.

"Thank you for such an honor," Mike gushed.

Mitchum just nodded and then asked, "Would I be a distraction if I spent some time observing your staff?"

"Of course not sir, but if there is anything else, please let me know."

Mitchum moved throughout the office, in a manner Rory couldn't help but compare to what Logan did. She figured that was where Logan learned it and was surprised to see how alike the two could be in a newsroom. She also noticed that as he moved about the room, most of the staff was watching him.

As he did this, Mike came up to her and said, "That article was exactly what we needed."

"What article?" Rory asked confused.

"The one you got help on from Huntzberger Junior. He said he heard good things, and I think that's what got his attention on our section."

"I'm sure there was more than that…" Rory pointed out.

"Either way, well done," Mike affirmed.

Rory shook her head, if he could stop trying to suck up, he would be such a good editor. Rory wasn't sure what to say, but was approached by Mitchum before the silence became too awkward.

"Miss Danes?" Mitchum asked.

"Yes," she said, turning towards him.

"I was just wondering how you like it here?" he asked, and although part of this was an act, he did want to know her answer.

"I'm enjoying my work," she said simply.

"Good, I'm happy to see you chose to continue working for _Huntzberger Media_," Mitchum stated.

"Continue? I was under the impression you just graduated," Mike asked confused

"Miss Danes interned for me at my Stamford paper during college," Mitchum explained. "Naturally, after hearing Logan talk about the work she had done for Yale's paper, I had to take a look myself."

"She quickly made her mark here," Mike nodded.

"I would expect nothing less," Mitchum said in agreement and then gave Mike a hard stare causing him to excuse himself.

Mitchum lowered his voice and said, "I was hoping we could get lunch."

"Sure," Rory said hesitantly, thinking about the lunch Logan had the day before. "There is Irish Pub about two blocks from here," Rory suggested.

"Good, I'll meet you there at 12:30," Mitchum offered and then returned his voice to a more normal level to prevent gossiping about what they were talking about, "What article are you working on?"

Mitchum talked with Rory for a few minutes and then continued to make his way through the office. It ended with him having a short meeting with Mike before moving to the business department.

After Mitchum left, Rory returned to her work while occasionally looking around only to see everyone on edge as Mitchum neared their area. She also noticed how everyone seemed to relax when he left, and then before she knew, it was 12:15. Rory saved her work and headed out to the Pub.

After she left, the three gossipers from the day before began to talk.

"I guess she really did work with Logan on the paper in college," the reporter admitted.

"You doubted that?" Sue asked.

"I thought they were using that as a convenient cover."

"So what do you think this means?" the photographer asked.

"Well, I don't think he'd give the time of day to one of his son's one night stands," Sue reasoned.

"How would he know who his one night stands have been? You think they sit around and compare notes?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, but everyone knows Junior had a reputation in college. Maybe to minimize the fallout, daddy dearest has had someone keeping an eye on him since he graduated. Besides, I don't think Ella is the one night stand type," the reporter reasoned.

"I guess, but it still seems like there could still be more to it," he replied.

"And if there is, which I doubt, we're bound to find out what it is eventually," Sue pointed out. The other two nodded realizing she was right.

--

Rory entered the pub and spotted Mitchum already seated at a booth off to the side. She mustered up a smile and walked over to him. "Hi Mitchum."

"Rory," he replied, gesturing for her to sit. Once she did, he said, "I hope you don't mind, but I ordered you a drink, an espresso martini."

Rory nodded, "That sounds good."

"Now you must be wondering why I asked you here," Mitchum stated, getting onto the purpose of lunch.

"Yes, I was a bit curious," Rory admitted.

"Did Logan tell you about the lunch he had yesterday?"

"With Shira," Rory supplied.

"Yes, well, I wanted to talk to you about that situation."

"Okay…" Rory answered, not sure what he would have to say.

"I stand by what I told you before, Logan is doing what he feels is right." Rory nodded, but didn't say anything. Mitchum started speaking again, "I also want you to know I talked to Shira again last night. I've added my own weight to Logan's threats so I don't think she will try anything else, but if she does and things start to escalate, don't think this is your fault. And I want you to be clear that I don't share her opinions on this matter."

"Thank you," Rory said quietly.

"How are the wedding plans coming?" Mitchum asked, wanting to have the information from Rory's point of view.

"Good, I found my dress and one for the bridesmaids. I met with a florist, we have locations reserved. I even ordered Logan's ring, thank you for calling ahead for me," Rory explained.

"Where did you end up ordering it from?" Mitchum asked.

"Cartier, I actually am worked with John, one of their designers, to have the design custom made. He was really nice…and helpful," Rory rambled.

"I've always had a good experience working with them," Mitchum agreed.

"We registered at Michael Fina, William and Sonoma, and Pottery Barn," Rory ticked off.

"They carry some of the finest china, be sure to mention that name when you see Shira next," Mitchum said with a smirk.

Rory shook her head and laughed, "You two are more alike than you want to admit."

"Logan and I?" Mitchum asked amused.

"Yes. Don't get me wrong you have your differences as well, but I'm starting to think that smirk is genetic."

"Well, we'll just have to wait until my son knocks you up to see," Mitchum joked causing Rory to turn red.

"So when is the next wedding plan event?" he asked after a few moments to ease Rory's embarrassment.

"Probably not for a while, why?" Rory asked.

"I'm going to talk with Shira again before you go," Mitchum admitted. Rory nodded in understanding, and then Mitchum said, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Depends what it is," Rory said, suddenly unsure again.

"When Logan asks if Shira said anything, tell him the truth." At Rory's surprised look Mitchum said, "I hope she won't, but don't think it will better if you keep it to yourself."

Rory was surprised, but nodded slowly, knowing he was right. She also realized this was the first real conversation she had had with Mitchum, and it was nothing like she had imagined.

Soon their food arrived, and Rory and Mitchum moved their discussion to the paper, as well as the media industry in general. By the end, Rory felt much more at ease around the man while Mitchum was getting to see more of Rory's personality.

--

**_A/N: Before I say please review I just want to say I'm not bringing Dean into this fic. He was only brought up here as a topic and I don't plan to mention him again. This was just something I thought fit with everything going on so I hope you liked the discussion. Now, please review because I love to know what everyone is thinking!_**


	25. Tease Him

_**A/N: Someone asked about the timeline of this story, and I wanted to clarify it. Unless otherwise specified, generally a few days pass in between chapters; although, I do try to clarify at the start of most. But, just to be clear Ch. 24 took place in the last week of August (while Ch. 20 was the beginning of August, and Ch. 14 was the middle of July).**_

_**Also for you reviewers (a big thanks by the way), I don't mind if you're the log-in or anonymous type, but I do like to reply directly to people rather than here. So if you are going to post an anonymous review and ask questions (and actually would like a reply), please don't forget to put an email address, thanks! **_

--

The weeks passed as Logan and Rory continued with their work routine. During this time Rory had been back to _Cartier_ to finalize Logan's ring and had set a menu with Sookie, which ended up being a very time consuming task. Logan spent most of his time at the _Times_, but did have a meeting with his father at the _HM_ main offices in Hartford. Though they were solely meant as business meetings, Logan did pull him aside to thank him for talking to Rory. They also spent some time alone and with their friends which was always nice.

Colin had started his second year of law school which meant he was back to studying for a few hours every night. Steph began September by celebrating her 25th birthday, but also found her self increasingly busy with the research she was doing for work at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. She was part of a research team working in the Functional MRI Research Facility, working to improve the information that can be interpreted from an MRI, but also to further study how the brain functions. Overall, she found the research interesting, but also enjoyed talking to the patients who came in.

Finn had started September with a week long business trip to Europe because he father was tied up with other issues in Australia. Once he got back to the U.S., it was back to the usual work days: staying on top of the regional managers, keeping an eye of the finances, and looking at possible locations to build new hotels. Things for the company were going well, as was his relationship with Bri and through her, Maddy. He had to say he was happy with how things were going, but could tell there were still things she hadn't told him. And, even though he knew they were from her past, he wondered if she ever would. Bri was enjoying her work and slowly becoming more comfortable in her relationship with Finn, but that got easier especially when she saw how much Maddy liked him as well.

--

The first Saturday of October found Logan in the shower getting ready for an afternoon with the guys. Rory had left not too long ago so he was left to himself before heading out. Once he was done getting ready, he grabbed the bag Rory left for him and made his way across town. Logan approached the tuxedo shop and saw Josh and Colin standing near the entrance. They greeted each other and made small talk while they waited for Seth and Finn.

Next to arrive was Seth. As he walked up, he asked, "Waiting on Finn?"

"Of course," Logan replied.

They were still talking when a car finally pulled up and out stepped Finn followed by Maddy. Seeing the surprised look on their faces, Finn supplied, "I was talking to Bri the other day, and she talked about going out with the girls to do whatever it is they do so I offered to watch Maddy. This shouldn't take to long, so after we're going to lunch and then maybe a park. I didn't think it'd be a problem."

"It's not, we were just a little surprised," Seth said

Finn and Maddy approached the group, and he picked her up, "Baby Doll, do you remember Logan and Colin?"

Maddy nodded to Finn and then said, "Hi."

Both replied with their own variations and then Finn continued, "This is Seth and Josh." They smiled and tried to give a reassuring _hi_, but Maddy was still a little shy and turned back to Finn.

"Shall we get started?" Logan asked. After receiving an assortment of shrugs, Logan led them into the Tuxedo store.

When they entered, a younger woman walked up to them, "Hi, my name is Alyssa, I'm going to guess you're a bridal party, do you have an appointment?"

"Yes, Huntzberger," Logan said simply.

Her eyes flickered in recognition of the name that apparently belonged to the very attractive man, but continued, "We have a private dressing room in the back for you. Are you getting fitted today or selecting the style?"

"Both," Logan stated.

"Then why don't you start out here. We have all of our vests on display, but some may come in colors that are not out. Do you know what color you are looking for?"

"Silver and white," he replied.

"Okay, well, most vests come in those colors. Why don't I give you a few minutes to look around and I'll start pulling a few jacket styles for you," she stated

The guys started wandering around the front of the store looking at the options. After a few minutes, Colin asked, "I thought we would have navy blue vests."

Logan shook his head and explained, "It's too hard to match navy blues."

"Did she send you with fabric samples?" Seth asked.

Shooting him a glare, Logan answered, "Yes."

The guys looked around and as they did. Finn looked at Maddy and asked, "See any you like?"

She nodded and pointed to the wall and declared, "Purple and pink."

Finn laughed, "Those are very pretty, but we have to get silver, like that," he explained and pointed to a silver vest.

"That's boooo-ring," she declared, "purple!"

"Rory picked silver," Finn tried to reason.

"Is it for you?" Maddy asked.

"Yes," Finn answered.

"Mommy says that she helps me pick my clothes because I'm little. When I'm grown up like her, I can do it all by my self."

"She's right," Finn agreed

"You're a grown up…you pick!"

Thinking for a moment, Finn turned towards Logan and asked, "Yeah mate, I'm a grown up, can't I pick what color I want?"

"No because Logan's whipped," Colin cut in.

"No conquered, get it right," Seth teased and then turned to Josh to explain, "Because he has no chance of ever being in charge again." Josh nodded in agreement

"Do you want to try and tell Ace you don't want to wear silver?" Logan questioned, ignoring the other comments.

Thinking over Logan proposition, Finn shook his head, deciding it wasn't worth the risk.

"But purple is pretty," Maddy tried.

"Yes it is, but you know how you like to pick out clothes?" Finn asked, Maddy nodded so he continued, "well, all girls do, and we boys have no choice but to match what you pick. Rory picked this time."

"Oh," Maddy said sadly.

When Alyssa returned, Logan had two styles of satin vests and one style of a wool vest, all of which matched the samples Rory had sent, picked out to try on once they picked the tux. They were escorted to the back fitting room and shown a selection of jackets. Logan immediately ruled out the two button jackets. Finn got out some crayons and a coloring book for Maddy to entertain herself with while Logan began trying on the remaining jackets.

As this happened, Seth asked as seriously as possible, "So I know you're saving yourself for marriage…excited about the wedding night?"

Logan turned to Seth, having a hard time not laughing and answered sarcastically, "Oh yeah…just hope I'll know what to do."

"Would you like me write out instructions, I mean Josh and I are both married, I'm sure we can give some tips," Seth offered.

"I'm married to his sister: Do you really think he wants tips from me?" Josh pointed out.

"Ugh, please no," Logan practically yelled and showed them the first jacket.

"No," Colin said, and Logan returned to the rack of jackets.

Seth continued his game and offered, "Don't worry, I'm an expert. Now Logan, women have what they call erogenous zones…"

"Are they important," Logan asked, maintaining the charade.

Seth smiled, "Depends who you ask, but I'm sure Rory thinks they are."

"Why?" Logan asked, trying to sound like a curious kid.

"Because women are complex beings and decided men should have to navigate their way through a maze before they get can get their prize," Seth said seriously.

"Prize?" Logan asked, giving a small grin wondering what Seth would say.

"Yes, if you do well on the maze, she will let you experience her in a whole new way, paradise on earth if you will…"

"How well do you need to do on the maze before you can claim the prize?"

"I thinking a passing grade is around 75 percent proficiency, but the better you do, the better the prize."

"Makes sense, do I get map so I can get the best prize?" Logan continued, trying to be serious again.

"Each maze is different," Seth started and saw the other guys trying their hardest not to laugh out loud, "but I'm sure by the time the honeymoon is over, you'll be able to create one for Rory."

"Like he doesn't already have it memorized," Finn muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Logan gave them a smirk and replied confidently, "Of course I do, get a perfect score every time."

"Ok, this conversation is getting freaky, and I don't really need to be hearing those details about my brother-in-law," Josh interrupted.

Logan tried on a few more jackets before settling on a three button coat with a notched lapel. Logan also noticed it was 100 percent wool, which would be good since it was a winter wedding. The tailor came out and began measuring and fitting each of them in turn.

Logan was fitted for his tux and now it was Finn's turn, but he was having a problem standing still.

"You need to stand up straight," the tailor instructed.

He stood still long enough for the tailor to pin the sleeves to the right length before he started to fidget again. He went to put his hand in the pocket when he let out a yelp, "Ouch!"

"What happened?" Logan asked, although he had a pretty good idea.

"Bloody pin stabbed me!" Finn said waving his arms and getting poked again.

Maddy looked over when she heard Finn yell and was now giggling at his behavior. After she saw him yell for the third time, she walked over to him and said, "Mommy says I get ice cream after dinner if I sit still in church."

"Really," Finn replied, "Do you think she'd give me ice cream if I'm still?"

Maddy nodded seriously, "If you're reeeeaaally good she puts whip cream on it too!"

"Whip cream and a cherry on top?" Finn asked excitedly before he remembered the audience, but Maddy nodded regardless causing Finn to grin and stand very still.

"Whip cream?" Colin asked, at Finn's excitement. "Speaking of…" he began and looked expectantly at Logan.

"What does that have to do with me?" Logan asked coming back into the conversation confused. There was no way he had let Rory's last birthday present to him slip so he wasn't sure what they were trying to get at.

"Nothing as of now," Josh answered and then continued, "We want to know what you have planned for the wedding night. And besides, Honor wanted me to make sure that you planned the wedding night right."

"My big sister wanted to make sure I do **what** right?"

"Not that!" Josh replied quickly, "Just the night as a whole."

"Okay, I know I'm not the expert here, but other than _that_ what else is there?" Finn asked.

"Do you want me to try to explain it or just pass along what Honor said?" Josh asked.

Logan weighed his options, and as much as he didn't know if he wanted to know what Honor said, he knew that would be easier on Josh, so finally said, "Just tell me what Honor said."

Josh seemed relieved by that answer, "She wanted to remind you that your wedding night is about love and expressing said love to each other."

"I know that, thank you," Logan interjected.

Josh just continued, obviously uncomfortable, "But a girl wants to feel sexy as well."

"You know, I think I liked it better when you didn't say much, then comments about my sister feeling sexy didn't permeate my thoughts."

"And it's hard to feel sexy after having your hair shellacked and spending the day in a multi-layer dress."

"How am I supposed to fix that? I'm not the one who said she has to do that. She could roll out of bed naked, and come like that" Logan replied, but really…it was the truth.

"I think you're missing the message," Seth pointed out.

"There was a message in that?" Logan asked, obviously not seeing it.

"I think that was Honor's way of telling you to find a way for Rory to wash up and feel refreshed before you get into the wedding night," Seth offered.

"How did you get that from what he said? Did he give you the Rosetta Stone instead of me?"

"Logan," Seth said, "Focus. What are you planning?"

"I hadn't really thought that far. I mean besides the obvious…"

"Yes, I think you've covered that," Finn pointed out.

"It doesn't need to be something complex," Josh tried to give him some help, "It can be as simple as having her favorite wine or food, just do something you know _Rory_ would like."

"What did my sister bribe you with to have this conversation?" Logan asked, instead of replying to what Josh had suggested.

"Well she did mention something about a vacation to the Caribbean after the Huntzberger family Christmas. A house with a _very_ private beach…" Josh said with his own grin.

Logan just shuttered as Finn finished up, and Colin and Seth waited patiently. As Finn stepped off the platform, Maddy walked up to him and said, "Finn."

"Yes," he answered, turning to her.

She pulled on his arm wanting him to come to her level. Once he finally figured that out, he crouched down, and she took a step closer to whisper, "I have to go potty," in his ear, but was still loud enough for the guys to hear.

Finn who wasn't sure what she wanted from him said, "I'll find out where the restroom is."

Maddy nodded while Finn asked where the rest room was. He returned and told her it was the door on the other side of the room. Finn stood waiting for her to go, but Maddy just looked at him.

"Is there something else you need?"

"You come too," Maddy tried to explain.

"Why?" Finn asked, obviously not seeing what was going on.

"I need help."

"At home, you go by yourself," Finn pointed out.

"I don't have my stool, I can't reach by myself" Maddy informed him.

Finn turned to the guys who all quickly pointed to Seth.

"Why are you pointing at me?" he asked.

"You're the only one with a kid," Colin said as if it were obvious.

"Laura's still pregnant," Seth shot back.

"That's closer than the rest of us," Logan argued.

Seth shook his head, lowered his voice, and said, "Finn, it has to be you, she doesn't know the rest of us…that's why she asked you."

"But she has girl parts!" Finn said in shock.

"Finn, she **is** a girl," Colin pointed out.

"A boy shouldn't see her girl parts until she's married."

"You didn't wait until you were married to see _girl parts_," Colin pointed out.

"Finn, this doesn't count," Seth reassured him, ignoring Colin's comment, "are you going to help her?"

Finn glared at them but, remembering that Maddy was waiting for him, walked back over to her and hesitantly took her hand and lead her too the bathroom.

--

Finn walked back over to the guys and saw Seth was still being measured. Logan was going to tease Finn, but saw that this may not be the time and went with a change of subject, "Anyone know what our better halves are doing today?"

Finn, Colin, and Josh all shook their heads, and Colin said, "Steph wouldn't say a word."

"Ace told me that Steph called her, being all secretive and wasn't sure what they were doing, just that she would be gone all day."

"Well, Honor is with them, I'm not sure if there was anyone else," Josh said.

"Really? Rory didn't mention anything beyond her, Steph, and Bri going out for the afternoon," Logan stated confused.

They continued to talk until they were all done getting fitted. Josh and Seth said they needed to get going, but the other three, along with Maddy, decided to go for a late lunch.

--

Rory left her apartment and drove to the location she had been given by Steph. When she drove up, she saw she was at a parking garage. As she drove into it, she spotted Steph's car where she saw Steph and Bri step out.

"Hey," Rory greeted, "What's the plan?"

"I thought some shopping was in order," Steph proclaimed.

"Sounds good," Rory said with an eye roll. As far as she could remember, Steph had never needed an excuse to go shopping. She looked over at Bri and asked, "Is Maddy with Rebecca?"

Bri shook her head and admitted, "She's with Finn."

Steph stopped in her tracks, "You let Finn baby-sit?"

Bri nodded, "I told I him I was meeting you guys today, and he volunteered."

"I think he likes her," Rory explained, as they walked towards the shopping district.

"Well, I wasn't sure at first, he's never been alone with her for more than a few minutes, but when I asked Maddy, she seemed excited," Bri confessed.

"But, remember he is Finn. If there was ever an adult who little kids would like, it would be him," Steph pointed out.

"He's good with her," Bri admitted, not knowing what else to say.

Steph smiled as she saw her target destination in the distance. Grabbing Rory's hand, she said, "I know where we should go."

"Where?" Rory asked, knowing she should be wary of the excitement on Steph's face.

Steph pointed up across the street to a high end lingerie store.

"Why would we go there?" Rory questioned.

Steph knew this would be the hardest part of her day, "Why not, I mean a girl could always use more lingerie," she said batting her eyelashes, attempting to appear innocent, "right?"

Bri nodded, but Rory still seemed unconvinced, "I think I'm good."

"What about for your dress?" Steph suggested.

"What dress?" Rory asked, wondering if she was forgetting something.

"Your wedding dress, don't you want something new to wear under it?"

"I guess…" Rory hesitantly started to agree.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun."

"Fine, let's get this over with," Rory said, giving in, and started walking towards the store.

As soon as they walked in, Steph sent Rory off to start looking, claiming that she was going to do the same, but instead, headed over to the register to talk with the manager.

Bri walked with Rory to make sure she didn't notice what Steph was doing as they made their way back to the strapless bras where she started looking at the different styles. After a few minutes, Steph returned, and Rory asked, "Find anything?"

"Nope, but I got something set up for us," Steph said mysteriously.

"What?" Rory said, suddenly even more unsure than she was before.

"A private area to do our shopping and try things on," Steph explained.

"Why would we need that? I'm only getting one thing," Rory pointed out.

Steph smiled and led her into the back room. As Rory passed through, she was surprised to see Honor, Paris and Lane. Sensing a set up, she turned to Steph and asked, "What's going on?"

"Well, you said I could give you lingerie as long as it wasn't at your shower," Steph reminded her friend.

"Yes…" Rory answered.

"So I decided it would be fun for the smaller group of us to have a lingerie party," Steph said quickly.

"A what?" Rory asked shocked.

"A lingerie party," Steph repeated, and then added, "I figured you'd freak out less and be a bit more comfortable if we did it as a group. Plus, I thought it'd be fun and everyone could get to know each other better."

"Fine, how does it work?" Rory said in defeat.

"We look, try things on, and in the end, everyone picks out a bra and panty set plus lingerie."

"And then what?"

"You take them home…it's all paid for if that's what you're wondering about. And, I don't want to hear anything about paying from any of you. I wanted to do this so don't argue," Steph said in the firmest voice she could muster. Honor, Rory, and Paris seemed to send her a playful glare while Lane and Bri who had noticed the price tags seemed a bit more hesitant, but didn't dare say anything after Steph's declaration.

"Now before we continue, Paris, Honor, meet Bri our friend who also works with Rory. Bri this is Honor, Logan's sister, and Paris, who's known Rory since sophomore year of high school," Steph said making the introductions. She had already given reminder introductions of Honor to Paris and Lane before she left to return to the main show room to drag Rory into the private room.

"What, I'm not Rory's friend?" Paris snapped, noticing the way Steph had made her introduction.

"That's not what she meant Paris," Rory said, jumping in, hoping to stop Paris before she was in full swing.

"She clearly said known, not friend, not roommate…just known. Why would she say that unless…"

"Paris, we weren't friends when we met," Rory pointed out.

"We're friends now, don't tell me you're still hung up on high school," Paris snapped back with an eye roll, taking on her defensive stance.

"No, but saying we were friends since then would be misleading, I mean, you hated me. Not only did the guy you were _madly in love_ with have a crush on me, but I got-" Rory started to say before being interrupted by Paris.

"She finally admits DuGrey had a crush on her! But for the record, I was not madly in love with Tristan."

"Despite that, you also hated me because I got as good, if not better, grades than you, as I started to say before you interrupted. You learned to tolerate me junior year, but we only started becoming friends senior year," Rory reminded her.

"That's still high school! We've been friends since high school." Paris pointed out.

"And we didn't really stabilize that friendship until college. Do I need to remind you about student council and how you thought I was out to get you?" Rory questioned, ignoring Paris's argument.

"That wasn't my fault. Francie made me question you!"

"So Steph, knowing the long version of our background, didn't want to give misleading information," Rory argued back, returning to the topic at hand.

"This isn't the newsroom," Paris pointed out.

Rory decided to go for a complete subject change, "How's Doyle?"

Paris's face shifted quickly into a smile and said excitedly, "He's good, we're good. Last week, I talked him into letting me get that treadmill."

"That's nice, now, can Steph continue?" Rory asked, seeing Paris was much calmer now.

When Paris nodded, Steph said, "All these racks have different things for us to try on, I made a guess at your sizes, but if you need a different size or want to look around the store for something else, feel free. A woman named Chelsea is helping us, so she will be around to help you find anything as well. Rory, you get to pick stuff as well, but I think it would be a good time for you to find something to wear under your dress so they brought some of their bridal collection back as well."

--

Rory was looking at some simple strapless bras when Honor came up behind her, took the bra out of her hand, and said, "You're not getting that."

"Why not? I need a strapless bra," Rory started.

"Because it's too plain. Is that really what you want Logan to see when you go up for your wedding night?" Rory immediately reddened at Logan's older sister explaining what he would want to see her in on their wedding night.

Seeing her discomfort, Steph jumped into the conversation saying, "I don't think Logan cares what she's wearing, just that it can come off easily," but after a few moment's thought added, "but Honor's right, you need something with more…pop."

"Pop?" Rory asked, not really wanting to know what Steph was thinking when she said it.

"What about this," Paris suggested, pointing to a corset on the rack. It was mesh and lace bustier detailed with sequins and ruffles along the bottom complete with a lace up front and hook-and-eye back closure and a matching lace g-string.

"That's more like it, but she needs something strapless," Lane commented.

"You know I've successfully chosen my own bras for a number of years now," Rory pointed out.

"No, you had Lorelai's influence. She's not here so we've taken up the job," Paris pointed out.

"You know a corset that continues down and serves as a garter as well won't show bra lines under your dress like a traditional strapless bra would and even covers the top panty line," Bri offered, seeing Rory needed something more logical and pointed to a corset with a little less lace which meant it would be smoother under her dress.

"I guess that's true," Rory relented and picked out a few to try on, some more practical than others.

"That was good," Honor commended.

"Thanks," Bri said with a smile of her own. She was a little hesitant when Steph had called her about today, but relaxed the longer she was here.

"I can't believe she picked some of those without us bugging her to try them on," Honor commented.

"They were a bit racier than I would think she normally goes for," Lane stated.

"Are you sure because she put a whole little seduction number together for work," Bri questioned.

"What?" Paris asked, voicing the others' confusion.

"Mike, our editor, instructed _Ella_ to find a way to grab _Mr. Huntzberger's_ attention. All I ever heard when I asked her about it was a mumbled thigh highs and heels," Bri explained.

"And dad wants to know why he seems to like work more now than he did before," Honor said sarcastically.

After a few minutes, Rory emerged with a white corset in hand. It had lace covering the cups that trailed down the torso, while the rest was a sheer material and met up at the eyehooks that would latch up the spine.

She noticed all eyes were on her and felt the need to divert the attention so teased, "So what do you think your guys would like?"

Almost immediately, Paris started going through the racks and muttering to herself while Lane seemed a bit more reserved, so Rory went over to help her along. She had to admit it was much more fun when everyone wasn't worried about **her** choice. She felt weird with everyone knowing what she would be wearing under her wedding dress especially because they all knew what she would be doing after the wedding.

Steph found something, tried it on, and was set, with Honor close behind, before Paris or Lane even made a selection. Honor and Steph were talking off to the side when they noticed Bri walking by the racks, but not really looking.

Steph led the way and spoke, since she knew Bri much better, "Need some help?"

Bri shook her head, "I just don't know if I really want to get anything."

"Why not?" Steph asked, "There are a bunch of choices, something has to have caught your eye"

"I guess, but…" Bri started hesitantly.

"You know Finn will love almost any of it," Steph said with a wave of a hand.

Bri just shrugged causing Honor to say, "Although, I always figured Finn to be the type to enjoy a bit of a tease, what would you say?"

Bri just shrugged again and with a face void of any emotion offered, "I wouldn't know."

"I thought Rory said you were dating Finn," Honor asked confused.

"I am, we just haven't…" Bri said, not really wanting to finish that sentence in front of someone she just met.

"Really? Finn, dark hair, Australian? Well, you are a red-head so that fits…" Honor said, while reasoning out loud.

"Why haven't we?" Bri asked louder than she intended, but the admission of the question sent her brain into overdrive thinking about why they hadn't had sex.

Seeing that Bri was starting to get herself worked up, Honor decided to broach the other issue at hand, "But, that's not the only reason you weren't looking."

"What?" Bri asked, coming out of her thoughts.

Honor glanced around and noticed Steph was now talking to Paris about something. She knew Bri was new to the group and also knew Rory would be better choice for what she was about to say, but wasn't available. Hoping Bri would take this the right way, she sighed, "I know you're uncomfortable because of the cost, and I can't say I know what it's like to be in your shoes, but Steph set this up wanting everyone to enjoy themselves."

"But everything here is so expensive," Bri admitted, fully aware she was talking to a Huntzberger.

"I promise she can afford it, and she didn't mean for it to bother anyone, she just wanted this to be more of a group thing because, while we all know Rory, we don't all know each other. Really, you should get something, I mean, you are eventually going to sleep with Finn right?"

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it…but assuming things keep going well, I guess, eventually."

"Okay then. Don't you want to have something that makes you feel sexy and desirable when that happens?" Honor asked, letting the bubbly part of her personality take over.

"Um…" Bri said, not knowing what to say to that type of question.

"I know this probably isn't the most comfortable conversation. It's just, I've known Finn forever and while he's had girls try almost everything to get him into bed, he's never really had someone do it because of how they felt for him," Honor tried, knowing it wasn't a very clear explanation.

"I don't think I understand," Bri admitted.

"Hmmm…" Honor let out while thinking. After taking a moment to think, she started again in a much quieter voice, "don't tell my little brother or Rory I told you this. Actually, I don't even think Rory knows I know about it. But I managed to get some details out of Logan about the first time they had sex…"

"Really," Bri screeched, not sure if she should really be hearing this, or that she even wanted to hear it, but curious all the same.

"Yeah, I'm sure by now you know all about Logan's reputation with women," at Bri's nod, Honor continued, "well, when he first mentioned Rory, I knew it was only a matter of time before they started dating, exclusively or otherwise. Finally, he admitted to me that she approached him at her grandparent's vow renewal ceremony. I was surprised because he made her out to be more of the timid type. Well, then he said they went out together, so I had to ask him how Rory went about seducing him, you know what kind of lingerie she wore, because that's what all the girls did."

"I've heard," Bri commented, her was of encouraging Honor to continue.

"Anyway, after much questioning on my part and stalling on his, which should have been my first clue to the fact she was different and it would end up here, with them getting married, he admitted that Rory didn't even change out of her cotton pajamas. To Logan, who was so used to girls throwing themselves at him, he didn't care what Rory was wearing. PJs over subtly sexy underwear was just as much of a turn on as anything else would have been because he knew she hadn't pulled the same routine with every guy on campus who had a decent pocketbook.

"I'm sure Finn's the same way. He'd love to see you in something sexy, but not to get his attention, rather because he knows it is just for him," Honor explained, ending her little speech.

At this thought, Bri smiled and slightly nodded while walking towards the rack with Honor close behind. They took another look at the racks and Honor suggested, "I'm thinking sexy, but not slutty."

"For who?" Rory questioned, walking up with Steph now that Paris and Lane both had taken an armful of clothes into the dressing rooms.

"For Finn," Honor replied with a smirk.

"I agree: sexy, not slutty," Rory said and looked towards the various sections of the racks to find something for herself.

Steph, on the other hand, seemed deep in thought, but finally declared, "I think you should go with a short slip or a flyaway babydoll…depending on how bold you're feeling."

--

In the end, Rory found something for her wedding night, Steph had something bold, Bri picked an outfit that showed enough (but not too much), Lane went with a more funky look, Paris decided on a very simple yet revealing number, and Honor searched for something unique since she owned enough traditional lingerie from her own wedding.

Once everything had been bagged, Steph insisted they all come over saying it was past lunch and they should eat, everyone except Rory had planned on going over there from the start, but they didn't want to let Rory in on the plan. They entered Steph's apartment and made themselves comfortable as Steph ordered some Italian and made a pitcher of margaritas. The girls chatted until it arrived, and after they got their plates, Steph excused herself and returned with a pile of boxes.

"What are those?" Rory asked, even though it was obvious.

"Well, when I mentioned wanting to do a lingerie party at the store everyone said they wanted to buy you something as well….and so here we are," Steph said happily.

"Thanks," Rory said truthfully, "but you didn't need to do this."

"You're just embarrassed because you're thinking about what you'll get," Lane reasoned.

"Traitor!" Rory responded and stuck out her tongue.

"Just open them already," Lane instructed.

Rory took box off the top of the pile and saw it was from Paris. She opened it to find a blue silk slip chemise with a small slit up the side and rose colored lace along the top and bottom edges and exclaimed, "This is beautiful, thank you Paris."

"There's one more," Paris offered, never one to fuss over things like this.

Rory moved the tissue paper to reveal a red stretch lace chemise with matching panties, and while it looked nice, it was not something she would have ever bought for herself. Blushing, she gave an unsure, "Thanks."

"I know you would never buy it yourself, that's why I did. You need something bold in your life," Paris explained.

"That's why I'm friends with you," Rory replied.

"Thanks," Paris answered and handed her the next box, which was from Bri.

She opened it and saw a baby blue silk chemise with sequin embellishment and a small keyhole opening along with a red satin sleepshirt with a plunging ruffled neckline and close tie.

"They're both nice, thanks, but this shirt looks sooo comfortable" Rory gushed as she held both items up.

"I know," Bri said smiling, "I picked it because I thought it was loose and comfortable, but still sexy."

Rory was handed the next package by Steph which was from Lane and contained a black babydoll with white a floral pattern covering the triangles cups above an ivory bow and matching panties. She also brought her a gift bag that held a satin and lace black babydoll with matching silk panties. Rory blushed again and thanked Lane surprised at what Lane gave her, assuming it would be more along the lines of Bri's gifts.

The next was an extravagant looking box, which Rory was not surprised to see was from Honor. On top, she found a white peekaboo satin flyaway babydoll with a satin bow front closure and matching silk panty and also a sheer pink baby doll with white lace detailing along bottom and a matching lace trimmed panty.

"Thank you," Rory said honestly. They were beautiful, she was just hesitant about wearing them.

"This is going to come out the wrong way, but he's my brother, I know what he likes, and trust me, he will love that," Honor said with a wink, making Rory's face reach an even deeper red.

Rory had to admit she was most nervous about the last box because she knew it was from Steph. Slowly, as if she was almost afraid, she unwrapped the box and saw a sheer blue baby doll with lace at the cup and hem and a matching g string. To say she was shocked was an understatement. After a lot of coaxing from the girls, she lifted it from the box to show them with evident embarrassment. When she did, she saw what was under it: a sheer black flyaway babydoll trimmed with ruffle lace along the top and a pink ribbon closure. It came with and a matching pair of black ruffled panties.

Rory just started at Steph like she was crazy, unfazed Steph said, "No one else was going to get you something that slutty. I felt it was my duty."

"I think you need to check the definition of the word duty," Rory said, still in shock from the last gift.

"You'll thank me in the end," Steph said smugly.

"Maybe," Rory said as she placed the gift back in the box, "All of you, thank you so much, really this was too much." Rory said as she placed her last gift back in the box, happy that opening all of her gifts was over. It was strange for her closest friends to buy her things to wear for her fiancé. But then again, she most certainly wouldn't have bought most of that stuff for herself, and she knew that Logan would most likely love it.

"Rory, Steph may have mentioned the lingerie first, but we've been just as excited about it since then," Honor promised her.

"Well, it was perfect," Rory stated and the girls began to clean up.

After they had everything under control, Steph announced, "I have one more surprise."

"What?" all the girls asked.

"Well, I was going to suggest it to Lane for your bacholorette party, but then figured if I had any chance of getting you involved, it would have to be a smaller group so I did it for today."

"Did what?" Rory asked, not comforted by the fact everyone seemed to be out of the loop on this one.

"You'll see, but in the mean time, promise me you'll use, at a minimum, half of what you got today on your honeymoon."

"It's my honeymoon. Don't you think I should get to pick what to wear?" Rory asked.

"I just want to know you'll fully enjoy your trip and not spend all your time getting caught up in touristy stuff."

"Like Huntzberger would let her waste time sightseeing when he has plans to use said time for sex," Paris pointed out.

Before anyone responded, there was a knock at the door. Steph moved to open to open the door and in walked two women, each carrying a bag. Steph led them to where everyone else was sitting.

The first thing said was by Rory, who asked, "Who are they?"

Steph smiled again and said, "This is Kelly and Leslie, they are here to give us a lesson on how to do a striptease and give a lap dance."

"What?!" Rory yelled, "Steph, no!"

"Oh, come on, lighten up, it'll be fun. Why do you think I served margaritas?"

"Because you're friends with Finn," Honor joked, she seemed to be the most comfortable with the idea.

"Right, well besides that, I knew it'd help you loosen up for this."

"Fine, but this better be worth it," Paris threatened.

Steph noticed their _instructors_ jump at Paris's declaration so said, "Ignore her, her boyfriend isn't that good in bed."

"I'll have you know…" Paris started.

"Paris, that was a joke," Rory explained calmly, but then told Steph, "but she's right, this better be good."

"Hello ladies," Leslie said cheerily.

"Hi," Honor and Steph said happily, while the other four were a little less enthusiastic.

"Okay, the first thing to remember is the _tease_ part of striptease and the same should be true for a lap dance. It really is just a specific type of foreplay," Leslie began.

"Now, there are two parts to think about before you try this; one, what music you want, and two, what kind of outfit you want," Kelly explained. Next, she opened her bag and pulled out items as she talked, "Pick out your outfit in the same way you get dressed, from the inside out. Usually, the bottom layer is lingerie that you think your guy would like, over that is your outfit. Depending on how comfortable you are you may pick a themed outfit, a maid outfit for example, but for many beginners, I suggest going with something more everyday. Any questions so far?"

All the girls shook their heads so Kelly continued, "The key to making the striptease last is having accessories. It can be anything from having your hair pulled up and making a show of letting it down to a necklace or boa to play with in between the actual stripping. If you decide to theme your outfit, you could use a feather or long gloves. Now no matter what you wear, having stilettos with a garter belt and stockings or thigh highs is a must." With that, she showed the different items and a brief demonstrating how to use them as part of a dance.

"Pick a song that you and your guy won't mind, but is slow enough that it compliments the sped of your dance, but long enough for you to complete your routine. If you aren't sure about how long you're going to take you can always make a CD with a few songs, and you won't have a problem. The last part is combining the two; this isn't a dance recital, don't memorize an entire dance. That being said, you may want to practice a few moves or using a boa while you dance. And, make sure you can easily get out of everything you need to. Something like a skirt with a clasp above the zipper, just leave the clasp undone." Kelly started showing different outfit combinations and some tricks to make things go smoother. As this continued, everyone began to loosen up with their _lesson_ and started to ask more questions.

"What do you do once you're done stripping?" Paris asked.

"Either move onto the main event or work your way into a lap dance," Leslie said from the side.

"Okay, so what should we remember for a lap dance?" Steph asked, obviously the most eager.

"The lap dance isn't as complex. Make sure to move your hips and work your way closer to him. Maybe start by circling the chair while giving him some light touches, next straddle a knee, then bring a leg up on a chair. The ending can vary, but since this is being used in a personal relationship, I would say end straddling his lap. You can either face away from or towards him, but if it's your first shot at it, and you don't have a stellar poker face, I recommend away because your face should remain stoic."

"Then how do you let him know the show is over?" Rory asked, finally letting her curiosity come through.

"The whole idea is to tease him, so while body contact is a must, kissing is a no. A good way to tell him the show's over is to get him in a lip lock. Whether or not he makes the connection that signals the end doesn't matter, if you did it right, he'll take the opportunity to keep the evening moving along. If he's in shock, you might want to help him along, a good way to do that is to start directing his hands."

"I don't think Logan will even be in that much shock to not take advantage of the situation," Rory commented, but the others nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I forgot one tip: tell him he has to keep his hands to himself if he wants you to continue," Leslie pointed out, causing the girls to laugh imaging the look on their guy's face when they hear that.

"So…we are done with the lecture portion of the lesson and onto the practical," Kelly announced. "I brought a starter kit for each of you. It has a CD of songs that work well for a striptease, a feather boa, long gloves, a pair of thigh highs and body glitter."

The girls started going through their bags and immediately Rory traded her red feather boa and gloves for Steph's black ones.

When it appeared they were done looking through the bags, Kelly commanded, "Stand up."

"First, I'm going to show you a few simple, and I mean very simple, dance moves that work well and look more complex than they are." Kelly demonstrated a few moves and then gave a brief instruction on how to do each. It took a minute for them to let themselves try them without feeling ridiculous, and not surprisingly, Steph was the first to get them down. Next was Honor and Bri, with Lane close behind. And before too much frustration gathered, Rory and then Paris had worked them out as well.

"Good, now I'm sure you're all wondering _what should I be doing with my hands_?"

Seeing their nods, she continued, "Okay if you're just dancing there are really two choices: run your hands over your body, face, or hair, or run your hands over your subject: his arms, lips, back, hair…you get the idea." Seeing the shock on their faces after the first choice, she laughed and added, "I wasn't saying you should feel yourself up, but more like run your hands along your sides, basically run your hands along your sides or stomach as you know your guy would love to be doing himself."

"Ohhhhhh," was heard from a few people.

"The other thing you can do to occupy your hands is dance with a prop, like your boas. You can wrap it around yourself or use it to tease him as you can continue to dance," Kelly explained while doing another short demo before having the girls attempt it. As they played with their boas, she showed them ways to wrap it easily and then pull it off.

After a few more moves were shown, Kelly and Leslie said their good byes, leaving the group joking around and playing with their boas.

"That was fun!" Lane exclaimed.

"Thanks," Steph said, happy to see everyone enjoyed themselves by the time it was done.

"I have to admit it was better than I expected," Rory conceded.

"Does that mean you're going to use this knowledge on my dear brother," Honor teased.

Rory just shrugged so Steph jumped in, "Maybe pick out a themed outfit."

"I bet you still could fit into your Chilton uniform, every guy loves a good school girl," Paris added.

Just as Lane was about to jump in, Rory replied, "That is only for him to know…"

"You suck," Steph replied, causing Rory to shrug.

Seeing she wasn't going to say anymore, the girls helped Steph clean up before saying their goodbyes and helping Rory down to her car with all her gifts before separating to return home.

--

_**A/N: First, I promise I'm not trying to torture you by not having any work in this chapter. The outline for this has been set for a few months now, the idea is I want to keep the story of R/L's personal life going as much as I do their professional (as random as some of this may have seemed, I promise it has a point). That being said, I promise some R/L action in 26 and will be back to the newsroom in 27.**_

_**Besides that I hope you enjoyed the chapter! The lingerie party was something Christi requested and I'll admit it was fun to work on. **_

**_Please review to let me know what you thought of the chapter or ask any question you may have._**


	26. Want Me

_**A/N: Hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you for all the reviews, I can't believe how many I'm getting these days!**_

--

After the girls left, Steph picked up the last few things left in her apartment. When she was done, she saw she still had an hour until Colin would be back. She had asked him not to come back until 6 because she hadn't been sure when they would be done with the party. She would call to tell him it was clear, but he mentioned going to the library, and she knew that meant he wouldn't answer his phone. Bored, Steph looked through the kitchen and saw they were low on food and decided to go to the store to pass some time.

Steph walked back into their apartment carrying a few bags and wondered where Colin was. She went to the kitchen and quickly put everything away before walking into the living room only to find Colin sitting on the couch pouring over his books: reading, underlining, taking notes.

"Colin what do you want for dinner?" Steph asked, leaning against the wall.

"Whatever you want," Colin replied not breaking his gaze from the page, Steph could tell he wasn't really listening.

"Okay, I was thinking liver and onions."

"Sounds good."

"Then after, I'm going to try my luck at amateur night at the local strip club."

"Have fun."

"I think I'll find a guy for a nice quickie."

"Mhmm."

"I bet he'll be better in bed than you, what do you think?"

"You're probably right."

Steph rolled her eyes and left the room. She knew Colin needed to study, but this was ridiculous. Normally, she left him alone while he studied, but he needed a break just like anyone else. During the week was one thing, but people need a break on the weekend. Steph also knew that she would go nuts if he ignored her: They had limited time together as it was. Walking back into their bedroom, Steph began to formulate a plan; it really was for Colin's own good, and well, if it was fun for her…who was she to complain.

Twenty minutes later, Steph stepped out of their bedroom and strutted her way into the living room wearing a knee length khaki skirt, black button up shirt and heels. She walked over to the stereo and started playing a track only to hear, "Steph, I'm working, please turn off the music."

"Oh come on Colin, it a Saturday night," Steph pointed out.

"Fine, just keep the volume low," Colin asked and started searching the coffee table for another book.

As the intro for the song ended, Steph began to slowly unbutton her shirt and walk towards the couch, making a show of each button coming undone. After she discarded the item, she glanced at Colin and noticed he was now flipping through his book of 20th Century Supreme Court Rulings. Rolling her eyes, Steph circled the couch and as she passed behind where he was sitting ran her hand down his neck.

"Hey while you're up can you get me a few more colored highlighters from my desk?"

Steph's jaw actually dropped, but she managed to coo, "In a minute."

"Thanks."

Steph finished circling the couch and put one leg up on the coffee table and proceeded to slowly unzip her skirt and then let it dramatically drop to the floor. This left her standing in red lingerie with black mesh along the sides that had a shelf bra and a laced up back. It also had a garter holding up her thigh highs, and she was still wearing her heels. But still, no response from Colin.

Deciding she would need to be bolder, she moved and sat on the edge of the coffee table, facing Colin. Putting her feet on the couch next to him, she rolled down one thigh high and then the other. She was shocked to see he was actually still doing work. If he was someone else, she would think he was just pretending not to notice, but one look at his face, and she knew it was no act.

Sighing loudly, she studied him and stood up, thinking about what her next move should be. He reached out to look up something and then leaned back again. As he did, she removed the matching g-string that had come with the outfit and twirled it on her finger, trying to decide what to do. She finally got an idea, and as casually as she could, let it fly, hitting Colin on the side of his head. To her surprise, he actually noticed, but only enough to grab the item and toss it behind the couch, never looking at what it was.

Soon, he turned to read the book sitting to his left, Steph saw this as her opening so strode over, maintaining her composure, and took the notes off his lap and books out of his hands.

"Steph what are you doing?"

Instead of answering, Steph straddled his lap. Just as she did, she saw the shock register on his face. "What are you wearing?"

"Like it?" Steph asked, with a flirtatious tone.

"Like it? I love it," Colin admired while taking in her outfit, but after a few moments, asked "When did you change?"

"Almost a half hour ago, I even stripped for you. You didn't see?" Steph questioned innocently.

Looking around the room, Colin now saw her scattered clothes, and groaned, "I'm sorry. I know I missed it…can I get a repeat?"

"You know I keep telling you life is passing you by while you study," She chided while she rolled her hips against him.

"Now is not the time for a lecture," he groaned.

"No it's not. But look at this as a life experience to learn from; just one more example to add to that list of _Things Colin Missed While Being Boring_."

"I haven't missed that much," Colin pointed out.

"You missed Rory throwing out her copy of Herman's and Chomsky's something or other."

"This is Rory we're talking about, she most certainly did not."

"She was writing a paper for a class and needed a quote from the book and couldn't find it. She got frustrated with the _stupid_ book saying she knew she had read it, but not it wasn't there and threw it out. Only to learn later that Finn had found her book earlier and started paging through it. He apparently found a few pages simply fascinating, but was leaving so he ripped them so he could take them with him. When he got back, he realized what he had done, he threw them out hoping Rory wouldn't notice…"

"Well that does sound like Finn, but Rory couldn't have thrown the book out."

"Oh, trust me, she did. It took us a few minutes to get over our shock. When Logan finally could speak and managed to ask what the book ever did to her, she explained and Finn started looking guilty. She turned on Finn and he cracked under about 20 minutes of pressure. I've never seen our dear, sweet Rory yell as loud or long or in such colorful language as when she chased Finn around the apartment while you sat at the table studying."

"Fine, I missed that, what else?"

"You missed me stripping," Steph reminded him.

"If you do it again, I swear you'll have my undivided attention."

"Sorry, one show per day," Steph shot back and tightened her legs around him.

"You're so mean," Colin whined, but started kissing her neck and let his hands roam her body freely.

"I promise you didn't miss the main show," she whispered in his ear.

"Really?" Colin asked, realizing his night was about to get much better.

"Nope," Steph answered and stood up, pulling Colin with her, and led him back down the hall to continue what had already started in their bedroom.

--

Logan arrived at the apartment after his lunch with Finn, Colin, and Maddy. He saw Rory wasn't home yet so decided to read for a bit. Over an hour later, his concentration was interrupted by Rory walking through the door. Seeing that her arms were full, he moved to help her by taking the top two boxes off the pile. Not expecting his help, Rory jumped, causing the bottom two boxes to fall, and exclaimed, "Logan, I didn't think you'd be home."

"Trying to hide something?" Logan asked, seeing her scramble to pick up what she dropped.

"No," she replied quickly as she shoved something into the bag on her arm.

Coming up behind her, Logan quickly reached out and beat her picking up the last item, a sheer pink piece of lingerie. Holding it up, Logan let out a whistle and said, "When do you plan on wearing this because that is not something I am willing to miss."

"Logan, give it back," Rory demanded, her embarrassment and annoyance coming through as she began blushing.

As she was saying this, a wave of realization hit Logan, causing him to smirk and ask, "Is all of this lingerie?"

"Does it matter?" she shot back.

"No, but I would love to know when to expect my own private fashion show of you modeling them."

"Our honeymoon," Rory said seriously.

"That's like three months away!"

"I know, but these were gifts from the girls for our honeymoon, and no, you cannot get a preview."

"What about the shopping bag…that wasn't a gift, but I know it's from a lingerie store. Can I see what's in there?"

"No!" Rory said even stronger.

"Please…" he whined.

"You're just like a little kid!"

"Oh come on, what's the big deal about a new bra," he pouted.

"It isn't a new bra," Rory muttered, turning to walk down the hallway and put the gifts away.

"Then why can't I see?"

"It's for our wedding night. And please, don't go looking through everything when I'm out one day, I want it to be a surprise," Rory argued. True, she wanted to have some sort of surprise for him, but she also needed to work up the courage to wear all of this; she never really wore lingerie to bed.

Logan was going to try and plead his case, but he saw how much she wanted to have something to wear for him on their wedding night, which he was finding to be a huge turn on, so he dropped it. Deciding to go back to the boxes, he asked, "What about everything else?"

"What about it?"

"Our honeymoon isn't our wedding night, can't I see it?" he begged.

"You want to surprise me with where we are going, I want to keep the lingerie I'm bringing a surprise…unless you want to negotiate a trade?" Rory offered.

"What kind of deal," Logan asked, making a point to pay close attention.

"It's simple, I swear. You tell me where we're going, and I let you see the lingerie."

"No deal," Logan said after he thought not only about how much he wanted to surprise her, but also realized he didn't want to see her in the lingerie until the honeymoon. There was something alluring about her having these unknown outfits for him to enjoy. Deciding to redirect his argument he asked, "Fine, what about this?" holding up the pink number, "I've seen this. So can you put this on and give me a sneak peak at what I can expect?"

Seeing what Logan was holding, Rory asked seductively, "You really like that?"

"Yeah, I do," Logan admitted and started trying to picture her in it.

"Do you think I'd look good in it?"

"You'll look incredibly sexy," Logan replied smoothly.

Rory smirked and said, "Then be sure to thank Honor the next time you see her."

"Why would I do that?" Logan asked, Rory's statement bringing his imagination to a screeching halt.

"She bought it for me," Rory explained. With this, Logan froze allowing Rory to take the garment out of his hand and put it away with all the rest.

As she finished, Logan whined, "Why would you tell me that?"

"Because Honor gave it to me," she said simply.

"You do realize you ruined any chance of that ever having an affect on me."

"Why's that?" she asked innocently.

"Because every time I see it, I'll think of Honor and that has a neutralizing effect on anything that lingerie would achieve."

"Really, well, we'll see. Honor said you'd love what she bought, and now, after seeing your reaction, I'd love to see you actually remain unaffected once you see it on me."

"I would have been _very _affected, but then **you** had to tell me it was from my sister!"

"I think you'll like the other one just as much, wanna see?" Rory said, now teasing him.

"No!" Logan yelled.

"So you agree with me, you shouldn't see them until the honeymoon," Rory said proudly.

"I guess," Logan relented, but then moved closer to her and whispered, "but it doesn't matter, you're sexy in everything," and kissed her. He hadn't meant for it to lead anywhere only to emphasize his point, but soon enough they were on their bed.

Logan was surprised to see how eager Rory was so he ran his hands under her skirt and removed her panties. It was only when he moved to kiss her stomach that he realized that the rest of her clothes still remained. He started to undo the buttons allowing her shirt to fall open, then seeing that her bra closed in the front, snapped it open and immediately took her breast in his mouth.

Rory was a little shocked at how fast things were moving. The only other time it had escalated this quickly was their first time after Logan had come home for a few days from London, and if that was any indication of what was about to happen, she was not going to complain.

Rory reached for his pants, undoing them quickly, and pulled both his pants and boxers down in one motion. They hadn't reached his knees before she rolled a condom on him and used her legs to pull him closer.

Logan managed to push up her skirt as he felt Rory draw him towards her. He braced his arm so he could shift his body allowing him to enter her. He immediately set a quick pace, hoping this was what she wanted because right now, he didn't know if he could stop. Soon, Logan felt Rory start to go over the edge and sped up, hoping not to be too far behind.

Logan collapsed next to Rory on the bed only turning his head to see her face, eyes closed with a huge smile. All Logan could muster was a mumbled, "Oh my God."

Rory rolled onto her side, blushing at their current half dressed state, but still managed to reply, "So you agree with Dogma, God _is_ a woman?"

Logan rolled his eyes because he couldn't think of any other response right now. When he finally began to recover, he asked, "What inspired that and can you do it again?"

"I just spent an afternoon planning and thinking of ways to seduce and pleasure you, what do you think caused this?" Rory admitted, but it caused her to blush even more.

Logan smiled knowing what had happened, but that Rory wasn't about to say it, "So your imagination is vivid?"

"I will not confirm or deny that claim," she shot back and made a move to get off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Logan asked, having yet to move from where he fell.

"I'm hungry," she answered as she changed into sweat pants and a tank top.

Logan watched as she walked calmly from the room, no sign of embarrassment over what had just happened. Pulling himself together, he went to the bathroom and then got dressed before following Rory into the kitchen. He saw her digging through the freezer so he walked up behind her, kissed her neck, and asked, "What are you looking for?"

"Food, I told you I'm hungry," she said, turning to him with a big pout on her face.

"How about I make something?"

"Okay, what do you want me to do?"

Logan looked at her, trying to decide what was safe, "Get a bag and put flour in it."

"Are you just giving me a pointless task to keep me from helping?"

Logan laughed, "Would I do that?"

"You have done that," she pointed out.

"Just once! But, no this is has a purpose," he answered.

"For the dinner?"

"Yes, for the dinner. I thought I'd bake chicken, it's easy, and you don't have to do much while it's cooking."

"And the flour is for?"

"You put each piece in the bag and shake, coating it with flour, then into the pan to cook."

"I get to shake?"

"Yes, but remember to close the top…I forgot that step the one time I let Finn help."

Rory laughed, but moved to do as instructed. Soon, the food was in the oven, and they decided to watch TV while it cooked. After dinner was done and cleaned up, Rory asked, "Do I get dessert?"

Logan smirked and started pulling her down the hall causing Rory to ask, "Logan, the ice cream is in the freezer."

"Ice cream?" he asked confused.

"Yeah, I said I wanted dessert," Rory reminded him even though the conversation had just happened.

"I thought you were asking to have sex again," he said seriously.

"I said I wanted dessert," she reminded him.

"I thought it was a metaphor."

"No, no metaphor, just my craving for Chunky Monkey."

"How about I have my dessert then you can have yours?" Logan bargained.

"Will you serve it to me in bed?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure," Logan agreed and started moving even quicker down the hall dragging Rory with him.

--

Finn dropped Maddy off at Bri's when she called to say she was home. He talked to Bri about getting together the next day, but didn't stay long since Bri had promised Maddy some _girls' only time_.

Sunday afternoon, Finn knocked on Bri's door, and when he heard a faint reply of _come in_ from inside, he reached for the knob, only to find it unlocked, opened the door, and walked in her apartment. He moved to the couch, wondering when Maddy would make her appearance; they had a lot of fun going to lunch and the park yesterday, and he wanted to see her again.

After he had settled in, he heard Bri call, "Finn, can you come here?"

Getting up, he made his way down the hall to what he knew to be Bri's room. Pushing the already ajar door open completely, he was shocked to see Bri standing in front of him in a black and white floral flyaway babydoll and panties.

"Hi," she said softly and shifted her gaze away from Finn's almost immediately while slightly reddening. Then, gathering some courage, she took two quick steps towards Finn, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

It took a moment, but Finn soon responded, moving his hands around her waist to pull her flush against his chest, and deepening the kiss. His body was on autopilot as he moved his lips to start his trek down her neck while at the same time walking them towards her bed. Soon enough, Finn was kneeling over Bri, continuing down her neck and moving onto her collar bone. After spending time enjoying her, Finn returned to her lips as he ran his hands up her stomach to play with the only tie holding the lingerie closed. It was when he was playing with the ribbon that he heard her suck in a nervous breath and felt her entire body tense up, causing him to bring everything to a screeching halt. When he did, he felt her body relax again, confirming what he suspected, so he pulled back and sat on the edge of Bri's bed.

"Why did you stop?" Bri asked, wanting to understand his actions.

"I shouldn't have let it go that far, we needed to stop," Finn answered, trying to calm her.

"No we don't." Bri said, and moved to kiss him again only to have Finn stop her.

"Yes," Finn said as he finalized his decision mentally, "we do."

"Why? Don't you want to?"

"That's not the point: I should have stopped it sooner."

"That's not the point?" Bri asked in disbelief.

"No, it's not." Finn said, holding his ground.

"You're not attracted to me, that **is** the point!" Bri yelled, her confusion from where their relationship was going getting the best of her emotions.

"What are you talking about?" Finn questioned, trying to stay calm.

"I was offering to have sex with you, and you did nothing!"

"I didn't do nothing," Finn defended.

"Then, you stopped because you don't like me like that!" Bri accused, when Finn didn't say anything she continued, "Are you only still dating me out of pity? Just break up with me, I don't care!"

After a pregnant pause, Finn, in a voice void of emotion, offered, "I think you're looking at this the wrong way."

"How?" Bri shot back.

"The question isn't why don't I want you, but why haven't I had you," Finn explained.

"That's the same thing!"

"No it's not," he said firmly. "Let's make one thing clear: I am very much attracted to you."

"So why haven't we had sex?" Bri challenged, going straight to what had been bothering her.

"The truth?" Finn asked.

"No, lie to me," she bit back sarcastically, but there was no humor in her voice.

"At first, it was me not wanting to rush things," Finn admitted.

"Rush what? I'm not virgin Finn, hell, I have a kid!"

"Just because you've had sex in the past doesn't mean you're ready for **us** to have sex now," Finn pointed out.

"Bullshit! Does this look like I want to wait?"

"Not look, but **feel** like you want to wait, yes."

"Whatever," she muttered and then asked, "And now?"

"I'm waiting for you not to tense when I touch you," Finn said, still maintaining his calm.

"What are you talking about?" Bri asked, suddenly nervous again, she didn't think he would have noticed that.

"The second you think we're going to go farther than you're comfortable with, your whole body tenses, and this wasn't the first time. Right now, I'm just wondering how it got so far before you reacted."

"Because I wanted to!"

"No you didn't," Finn said, knowing he was right on this.

"So now, you know everything about me?"

"No, but I do know that you're basically terrified by the idea of a physical relationship, which again makes me wonder why you're wearing that" Finn stated seriously.

"I wanted you to want me!"

"Don't you believe me when I said I do?"

"I don't have any reason too!"

"Look at what we were doing, how is this not wanting you?"

"You stopped! You've slept with all those women but not me, your girlfriend!"

"Don't ever compare yourself to them, you're better then all of them."

"You had sex with them!"

"What could I do to change that?"

"You could've had sex with me!" Bri argued, letting out one of the thoughts that had been going through her mind constantly for the past day.

"So you wanted me to push you into something I knew you weren't ready for?" Finn replied, wanting her to see his reason.

"That's not what I said!"

"Then what?"

"I was here telling you very clearly what I wanted, and you rejected me!" Bri said on the verge of tears.

"What would you have me do?" Finn asked, seriously not seeing what other option there was.

"Nothing!" she yelled and stormed into the bathroom.

Finn remained on her bed and heard the shower turn on. It was a while later when he finally heard it stop, and soon Bri appeared in lounge pants and a t-shirt running her hands through her damp hair. Finn had known he shouldn't leave, if there was one thing he remembered clearly it was Logan saying his biggest regret was walking out of the restaurant after his fight with Rory. That was what had caused Rory to ask for some time, Finn didn't want Bri to ask for the same. He wanted to know what was wrong, being friends with Steph for so many years had taught him girls rarely freak out for no reason. But now that he saw she had been crying, any idea of what to say seemed useless.

Although Bri was still upset, she had managed to calm herself down, and quietly asked, "Why are you still here?"

"Would you rather I left?" Finn asked, now not so sure about his choice to stay.

"That's not what I meant, I'm just surprised you're still here."

"Oh," Finn let out softly, and before he realized how clichéd it would sound, asked, "Are you okay Doll?"

Bri nodded, but the tears began to resurface in her eyes. Finn stood up and brought her into a hug, not one for finding comforting words. It wasn't long before she buried her face into the bottom of his chest letting her tears out once again, only this time they weren't stopping.

After a few minutes passed, Finn, wanting to get her off her feet, led Bri to her bed for the second time that day. But this time, he lay down first allowing her to curl up at his side, her head still buried in his chest. He continued to remain silent and started rubbing her back as the time passed.

--

Finn wasn't sure how long they had been laying there, but he would guess at least 30 minutes. Bri cried for nearly 10 minutes and then seemed to be slowly calming down, by now, he was beginning to wonder if she had actually fallen asleep.

A faint voice interrupted his thoughts, "Finn?"

"Yes Doll?" Finn replied, his own voice scratchy.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely.

"Nothing to be sorry for," Finn reassured and kissed the top of her head. Again, they fell into silence, this time lasting five or so minutes.

"I didn't mean it," Bri whispered.

"Mean you're sorry?" Finn asked confused.

"No," Bri said with a forced laugh. Then lifting her head to look at him, she said, "If we broke up, I'd care."

"I know, I'd care too," he admitted and gave her a gentle kiss, hoping it would reassure her.

Bri stayed in Finn's embrace for a while longer, but eventually sat up and declared, "We should talk, shouldn't we?"

"Probably."

There was an awkward pause, neither sure where to start so Bri spoke, "What did you mean there is a difference between wanting me and having me?" Bri wasn't stupid, logically she knew what the comment meant, but this had been eating at her mind, and she needed to hear it again, while her mind was clear.

"Exactly what I said. There isn't a reason why I don't want you because I do, you have no idea how much I do," Finn admitted.

"I'm working on getting that," Bri said.

"I know. And, as for why I haven't….I don't want to push you, I don't want you to think I expect it because I don't. In college, girls threw themselves at me and offered me sex thinking it would get me to settle down, but it just made them one of the many. You aren't one of the many, you never were."

"What does that mean?"

"The sex with those girls was just sex. I need you to realize that I'm not just trying to have sex with you; I want a relationship.

"Isn't sex part of a relationship?" Bri asked

"It can be, but I don't want to have sex just because we can. Sex wasn't going to seal the deal then, or I would be with one of them, and it's not a deal breaker now."

"Okay…"

"Bri, I've noticed how you react while we've been together that tell me you aren't ready for a physical relationship."

"Like what?" Bri questioned.

"Why does your body tense up?" Finn challenged.

"You noticed that."

"I did, and I also remember it happening before," Finn pointed out.

"When?" Bri asked, not knowing what he was referring to.

"There were two times…." Finn started, before reminding her of his memories.

--

_Finn was in his car with Bri and Maddy driving them back to their apartment after spending the day at the zoo. Finn hadn't been to sure what to expect, but had to admit, he had a lot of fun. At first, Maddy had been a little shy, because of both Finn and being around so many people, but when Finn begged Bri to let them ride the train with her the two had bonded._

_As Finn parked to walk Bri up, they saw Maddy was asleep in the back seat. When Bri went to pick her up, Finn offered claiming 'he was stronger,' which caused Bri to roll her eyes, but move so Finn could reach. _

_Finn carried Maddy to her room and left to let Bri settle her in, it was a little early but she could tell Maddy was tired from being out all day. _

_Bri came back and said, "I hope you had fun."_

"_I did, what about you?"_

"_I enjoyed myself, and I could tell Maddy did as well."_

"_That's good, so I have a question," he asked with a smirk._

"_Okay…" _

"_I was wondering what you're doing Wednesday." _

"_Going to work," Bri answered, not seeing where he was going with the question._

"_I meant after work."_

"_Oh, nothing planned yet, why?"_

"_I was hoping to give dinner a second try."_

"_Can we go back to the same place?" Bri asked hopefully._

"_If you want," Finn replied. He closed the distance between them to kiss her and realized it felt just as good as it had before. Finn moved his hands to her hips as he leaned in for another kiss which caused Bri to reach up and wrap her arms around his neck, which because of their height difference caused her shirt to ride up. As they continued to kiss, Finn moved his hand to run it across her stomach, which was now bare. When he did, he felt her lips stop for a moment before continuing, but it still brought Finn back into reality, and realizing he wanted to move slower than he had in the past, decided he should stop._

_He brushed his lips over hers one last time and then leaned back. Bri seemed unsure what to say so asked, "See you Wednesday?"_

"_Of course, but I'll call before then to work out the details."_

"_Okay, goodnight Finn, and thank you for today."_

"_You're welcome," Finn replied and then not able to stop him self stole one more kiss and then whispered, "Goodnight Doll," and walked back to his car._

--

_Finn was over at Bri's apartment sitting on the couch with her watching movies. They had been dating for over a month now, and this had become some what of a routine. They did get out alone sometimes, but Finn knew it was hard for Bri to leave Maddy when she already spent so much time at work so the three of them had started spending most Saturday's together. Sometimes they went out for the day, and sometimes, like today, they just hung around the apartment. _

_They also tried to get time alone, on days like today, that usually came while Maddy took a nap or fell asleep for the night, but Finn also tried to get together with Bri for lunch once a week. _

_Bri noticed they were alone and leaned over to kiss Finn who was more than happy to oblige. He once again was holding Bri securely to him with his arms around her waist. Wanting to deepen the kiss, he kept one arm there while he brought the other up to cup her neck. While he did this, his hand brushed over her breast making her stop. When she felt his hand continue to her neck, she pulled herself together and resumed kissing, trying to brush it off as a conscience. _

--

Bri nodded, vaguely remembering what Finn was referencing, and mumbled, "I'm sorry"

"You shouldn't be sorry, I can tell how nervous you become when it happens. I just don't want you to be scared of me."

"I'm not afraid of you," Bri said strongly.

"Then what? Because you're obviously afraid of something," Finn stated.

Bri looked up at Finn, not sure what (if anything) she should say. Before she decided, Finn asked, "Things are going good for us right?"

Bri nodded so Finn asked, "And, I know I want it to keep going well, what about you?"

Again, she nodded so he stated, "I want you to trust me, I want you to be able to tell me what's bothering you."

Bri nodded one final time, and the two fell into silence as Bri tried to figure out a way to explain what was going on. She wasn't sure what it was so she blurted the first thought that kept filling her mind when he made a move towards having sex, "I haven't had sex since I had Maddy."

"What about before you had her?" Finn said slowly, not sure what she meant by her statement but knowing it was important.

"We only did it once, Kyle was my first," she said blushing and looking away. While Finn had openly told her about his past with women, they hadn't discussed it, and they had definitely hadn't discussed Bri's past.

"Really?" Finn asked surprised.

"Yes," she said shyly, "is that bad?"

"No, it's not bad; I'm just surprised," Finn replied. "Why'd you only have sex once?" Finn asked, hoping to find out more about the situation.

"I got pregnant," Bri stated simply.

"But before that…Did you not like it?" Finn asked bluntly.

"It was okay," Bri said with an indifferent shrug.

"Okay?" Finn repeated. There were a lot of words he may use to describe sex and _okay_ was definitely not one of them.

"Yeah, I mean, I didn't see what was so great about it so I wasn't in a hurry to do it again. Besides, it was right before finals, which are always crazy, and after that, Kyle left for a summer internship in California; we didn't really have the chance."

"If he was leaving, why have sex in the first place?" Finn asked because that didn't seem like something Bri would do.

Bri just shrugged yet again, "I wanted to know what it was like, and at the time, I liked him, thought I might even love him, and was worried that we would break up if we didn't. So we did, and I got Maddy."

"When did you find out?"

"We talked while he was away, and one day he told me he was coming back that weekend for his sister's high school graduation. He hinted at coming by to see me, which got me thinking about our first time, and that's when I realized I was late. Before that, I hadn't really had a reason to worry if I was a few days late, so when I was, I didn't think much of it."

Finn wasn't sure what to expect, but had to ask, "Then what?"

"After he landed, he went home to see his family, and then came over to my apartment. I was scared and ended up just blurting out I was pregnant," Bri explained, but was now on the verge of tears again.

Finn hugged her again and whispered, "What happened?"

"He yelled."

"About what?"

"Asking me how this could have happened if I was on the pill, I told him I wasn't. He asked why not, that when I didn't ask him to use a condom he thought that was my way of saying I was on the pill," Bri started to explain, the tears once again falling.

"It's not your fault," Finn said trying to soothe her.

She looked at Finn and started explaining, "I wasn't really thinking about anything, I just figured he would use something. God, I was so stupid!"

"What happened after that?" Finn asked, wanting to get the story out before anything else was discussed.

"We yelled at each other for a while, but then I asked what we were going to do now that it had happened."

"What'd he say?"

"He said he didn't want to have anything to do with it. That it wasn't his fault I wasn't smart enough to avoid _getting myself knocked up_, his exact words by the way. I was mad and told him that he didn't need to be involved in raising our child, but I thought he should pay child support because it was just as much his child as mine. When I said that, he became even angrier and threw me off the couch into the coffee table. Then, he walked up to me a kicked me in the stomach saying _that should take care of the problem_. That was the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital," Bri got out, but was now shaking with tears streaming down her face so Finn hugged her even tighter.

"How'd you get there?" he asked after giving her a few moments to calm down a bit.

"I was living in an off campus student apartment building; I knew some of people on my floor: They heard the yelling and came to check on me when they knew he had left. They ended up calling 911."

"What happened at the hospital?"

"The doctor told me I had a fractured wrist, a few cuts that would need stitches on my hand and arm, the glass top on the coffee table broke, and a mild concussion, I must have hit my head when I fell. The first thing I asked was if the baby was okay."

"And she was," Finn supplied.

Bri nodded, "Up until then, I hadn't even thought about what I was going to do. But, when I asked, the doctor said they didn't know I was pregnant so hadn't checked. I waited for him to get the ultrasound set up, and I was so scared that something had happened. Finally, the doctor told me that the baby appeared to be fine, but called down an OB-GYN. She looked me over and said everything looked perfectly healthy for being six weeks along. Later, I overheard her talking to my main doctor, and she said that she was shocked because an impact like that usually causes a miscarriage."

"Of course, she was fine," Finn stated as if any other outcome was crazy talk.

"I knew the second he said the baby was okay that I was going to keep it," Bri said with a teary smile.

"Of course you would," Finn said. Then he asked something he needed to know the answer to, "You pressed charges right?" Finn asked.

Bri nodded, "After I was treated, they asked me how it had happened. When I explained, they called the police for me to give a statement. I told them I wanted to press charges."

"Good, what happened after that?"

"Lawyers got involved. I ended up agreeing to charge him with lesser counts if he signed away any and all rights to the baby, and a judge granted a restraining order…I just didn't want to ever see or talk to him again, and I haven't."

After Bri finished, they both sat there as all the new information sank into Finn's mind. He kept processing it and before he was done said, "Thank you for telling me."

He took a few more minutes and eventually said, "Don't ever blame yourself for getting pregnant. A guy should use a condom to prevent against disease, and to serve as a second form of birth control, especially for guys like me who had to worry about gold diggers lying about being on the pill, hoping to get pregnant. But regardless, in no way does silence ever mean a girl's on the pill."

"I know, I just can't believe I didn't think about it."

"Is he why you're afraid?"

"It's not like he beat me all the time, that was the first and only time it happened, and I would never have gone back to him," Bri said, wanting to defend herself.

"Good to know, but I asked if it had anything to do with why you're scared."

"I don't know."

"What's the first thing you think of when you think about having sex."

"That I could get pregnant again," Bri admitted.

"Anything else?"

Bri just shrugged so Finn decided to rephrase the question, "What does being pregnant make you think of."

"How much I love Maddy," Bri replied.

"It doesn't remind you of everything else that happened?" Finn hinted.

"No, why should it?" Bri asked, getting defensive.

"Anyone would understand if it did," Finn said calmly.

"I'm not afraid of sex!" Bri yelled.

"I'm not saying that, but I think all the all of those events are connected for you. And, Bri, you should be scared of what he did."

"I don't want to be," she confessed.

"I know, but you are…just don't be afraid of me, I would never put you in that position."

"You can't promise never to get me pregnant Finn," Bri said annoyed.

"I can't get you pregnant if we don't have sex," he pointed out.

"So we're never going to have sex?"

"Not right now. And don't start on the whole I'm not attracted to you bit again. I am, and I care about you, but this whole thing is still new. We're still getting to know each other; we're still learning to trust each other."

"Oh…"

"Can I tell you what I think?" Finn asked, but before she responded he continued, "I think that you should wait to have sex until you know he would be nothing but excited if you had to tell him you were pregnant."

"Him?" Bri asked a little confused.

"Well unless there have been major biological breakthroughs you, being a female, would need a male to produce a child, hence the masculine pronoun," Finn said, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Thank you, yes, I knew that. But that was a generic male, are you saying it won't be you?" Bri asked hurt. She didn't see the point of staying with someone if they thought a future together was out of the question.

"I didn't want the advice to be specific to me. I think it should be your personal rule that you apply to any guy you're with."

"That doesn't answer my question," Bri asked, understanding what he said and thinking he was probably right, but still needing to know his answer.

"I think it could be me, I would be ecstatic if it were me, but I can't see into the future and it's too early to be promising each other forever."

Finn's last statement left them both thinking about their relationship. Bri was the first one to speak, "You took that all very well you know, I was worried about how you would react." It was true, she had seen this conversation coming, and although she would have planned it differently, she had been worried somehow it would make him not want to be with her anymore.

"Would you rather I got mad?" Finn asked, not sure what she had meant by it.

"No."

"I am angry, not at you, at Kyle, and what he did…what's his last name?" Finn asked subtly.

"No, I don't want you to do anything to him…he's gone, and I've dealt with what happened, that's all that matters."

"He hurt you!" Finn exclaimed, finally allowing himself to focus on that part of the story.

"I know, I was there," Bri shot back.

"So why can't I kick the crap out of him?"

When Bri looked at Finn, the first thing she saw was that he was serious. She thought that he was joking, but now saw he was dead serious, in fact, she wondered what he would do if he ever did get his hands on Kyle…and that thought made her smile.

"Why are you smiling, I wasn't kidding. But if you'd rather I not use violence, I can make sure he's in financial ruin, and if he's not, put him there," Finn offered, as his mind started reeling at the possibilities.

Bri stood up and moved in front of Finn, wrapping her arms around his neck, "You're sweet."

"How is me hurting someone sweet?"

"You're being all macho," Bri said and smiled.

"You say that like I'm not normally…" Finn said acting offended.

"You're not, but it's sweet," she said again and kissed him, stopping whatever reply he was about to give.

Finn ended the kiss and pulled her onto his lap and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Finn, it was a lot of things coming to a head at once, but I'm glad I told you."

"I'm glad you told me too," Finn said honestly then asked, "Are we okay?"

Bri nodded and kissed Finn one more time before getting up and walking into the living room. Finn followed close behind and watched as she turned on the TV, then curled up with her on the couch as she flipped through the channels.

"Where's Maddy?" Finn asked, thinking back to what he expected when he showed up at her door this afternoon.

"I asked Rebecca to take her out, so we could be alone."

"When will they get back?"

"An hour or two."

"Did she know what you were planning?"

Bri nodded so Finn said, "Maybe you should call them and tell them to come back, I promised Maddy I'd see her today."

Bri reached over and grabbed the phone and dialed her sister, having a short conversation. When she hung up, she informed Finn that they would be home shortly.

They were still lying on the couch when Rebecca and Maddy returned.

"Mommy!" Maddy yelled and ran to Bri.

"Hey baby, I missed you."

"I missed you too," and then kissed her check before saying, "hi Finn."

"Hi Baby Doll, what'd you do with your Aunt Becky?"

"Ice cream!" she said happily.

Bri looked at Maddy and said, "You should wash your hands."

Maddy nodded and hurried out of the room, returning a few minutes later and climbed up on the couch and jumped on Finn's stomach to hug Bri, causing Finn to let out a grunt.

Bri turned her head and whispered to Finn, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Bri smiled, "This is nice."

"It is," Finn agreed and silently kissed her forehead before Bri settled back down on his chest and rubbed Maddy's back.

--

**_A/N: A few things to mention before I ask for those reviews:_**

**_I know this chapter had a lot of Finn/Bri, but I promise the next chapter will have Rory back at work, so please stay with me. I really like the Finn and Bri story and I hope you all do as well!_**

**_No Kyle will not make a reappearance in Bri's life (he is very much gone), just part of the story she was telling._**

**_Okay now, send me reviews :-)_**


	27. Kumquat Test

**_A/N: I apologize for the delay in updating, and offer the following quasi-short explanation. My computer was acting up so I had to take it to be fixed. As this issue was ending, some issues about my relationship with my boyfriend of 5 years started coming up. Needless to say, I thought A LOT about what to do with that, making it almost impossible to think about anything else. That situation is now resolved (I ended up breaking it off and am happy to say I'm getting back into my normal routine), but then, the transmission on my car went, which really just made me frustrated. So that was where I was when Christi put the update on the blog…then, my uncle got rushed to the ER and ended up needing an emergency triple heart bypass, so I was busy with that, and then this was going to be a long chapter so it wasn't the quickest write. I know that seems like a lot of stuff, but my main point is it that this won't be a regular thing, it really was just a string of bad luck (or as Christi said, when I have a bad month , I go all out…lol)! Please don't feel bad if you messaged me, I didn't say any of this because I was bothered/upset by it …I just know how much I like to see updates for my favorite fics, and since I really love all of my readers, I wanted to let you know what was going on!_**

**_I really feel bad for not updating, but I promise even if I had forced myself to write it wouldn't have been good or well thought out. Thanks for understanding, and I'm sorry to those who messaged me, and I didn't reply, I swear I'll be back on top of replying for this chapter. As always, thanks for all of your reviews and hope you enjoy the chapter!_**

--

Sunday afternoon found Rory curled up in a chair reading _Don Quixote_ when Logan found her. Standing in the doorway, he watched her for a moment before saying, "Hey Ace."

"Yeah," she replied, but didn't take her eyes off the book.

"So I was thinking…"

"Do you need to go to the doctor?"

"Funny…no, I was thinking we could go out to eat."

"Why?" Rory asked, she was very comfy in her lounge pants.

"Well, I'm not in the mood for take out again, and there's nothing to cook."

"Oh, well, then, yeah, let's go out," Rory said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll call a restaurant. Can you be ready to go in an hour?"

"Sure," she answered, while mentally jumping into action.

"I won't bug you, I promise," Logan said and turned back towards the kitchen.

Rory jumped out of the chair, setting her book on the desk, and practically ran to the shower. Eight minutes later, she was out, standing in her towel, and staring at her closet. As she was rummaging through her clothes, she heard her cell phone ring. Finding it on her dresser, she picked it up and said, "Hello."

"Rory?"

"Honor?"

"Yeah, hey, I tried to call my brother, but of course, he didn't answer."

"Want me to get him?" Rory questioned.

"No, I like you better," Honor teased.

"Okay, then, what can I do for you?"

"Just wanted to let you guys know Josh and I are in Maine for the night visiting his parents.

"Maine?"

"Yeah, it's like a four and a half hour drive, so we left around noon to get her in time for dinner. We're driving back down tomorrow."

"That's a lot of driving for dinner," Rory said in disbelief.

"I know, but we kept saying we'd come for a visit, and we finally got the chance."

"So anything else?"

"Not really…oh, my lingerie was a big hit!"

"Oh really?" Rory asked.

"Yup, I'll just say Josh thoroughly enjoyed it."

Rory laughed and asked, "Can I tell Logan you said that?"

"Sure, but I doubt he wants to hear that," Honor said truthfully.

"I know," Rory said cryptically.

"That doesn't sound good," Honor observed.

"Good for whom?" Rory asked.

"I'm guessing not good for Logan."

"You would be right," Rory asked with a laugh.

"Did something happen?" Honor asked.

"Well, he was home when I got back yesterday."

"Okay…"

"And, I dropped a box and revealed to him what was inside."

"How is that bad for him?"

"Well, during this, I told him the gift was from you."

Hearing this, Honor started laughing, "How did that go over?"

"Apparently, he doesn't like to connect you and the idea of sex."

"What brother would?"

"True," Rory conceded.

"So what were you going…OH! Rory that's mean."

"I don't know, I think it's funny!"

"You want to tell my baby brother about how I had passionate sex with my husband?" Honor asked sarcastically.

"Would it make a difference if I video taped his reaction when I said it?"

"Make sure the audio is good, and you have yourself a deal," Honor joked, and then asked, "So what are you two doing today?"

"Logan just asked if we could go to dinner," Rory said with a groan.

"Am I keeping you?" Honor asked.

"Just from tearing apart my closet," Rory said groaning as she continued to look through her choices.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought of what I wanted to wear while I was in the shower," Rory began.

"So what happened?"

"I realized Steph has the shoes that match," Rory said frustrated.

Honor just laughed and said, "Go with a black skirt, you can never go wrong with that."

"Thanks Honor," Rory said and pulled a skirt out before looking at shirts to match.

"Anytime, now I'll let you finish getting ready for dinner."

"Bye," Rory replied and hanging up. She turned back to her closet and found a shirt, glancing at the clock she saw she only had 30 minutes and she still needed to dry her hair and started moving faster.

--

The next morning, Logan woke up to find Rory already in the kitchen, eating an eggo waffle, drinking coffee, and reading the newspaper.

"You're up early," Logan commented.

"Couldn't sleep," Rory said.

"Why not?" Logan asked.

"I don't know, I woke up twice in the middle of the night. Well, actually three times, but the third time was 30 minutes ago so I didn't bother trying to get back to sleep."

"I didn't hear you," Logan observed.

"I tried to be quiet, didn't want to wake you up."

"Well then, you did a good job," Logan said and kissed her while sitting down with his own cup of coffee.

The couple finished going through their normal routine, both leaving for work a short while later.

--

Rory started her morning in a staff meeting going over the week's assignment only to find out she had an interview across town in an hour. Quickly gathering some research before she left, Rory ran out the door.

The interview went well, but when she stopped on her way back to buy lunch she found herself nauseas in the bathroom. Feeling slightly dizzy and deciding food wasn't the best idea, she headed back to the office. She started the research for her other article, pausing a few times because she got dizzy again, but was slowly getting her work done.

--

It was now almost 3:00, and Rory was working at her desk, looking over that morning's interview and some other facts she would need. She finally had everything figured out and was now trying to write a short introduction. 'That doesn't sound right…I've used the work _problem_ a million times, ahhh!…How about crisis?…No that doesn't work…Oh, dilemma!'

Rory finished out the paragraph, and noticing she still wasn't feeling well, decided coffee would be needed to get her through the day. As she got up, she felt slightly dizzy, but wrote it off to standing up too quickly and figured it would pass like it had earlier. Rory walked towards the break room when she suddenly felt extremely dizzy. Stopping she reached out to catch her balance, but before she could everything went black.

--

Sue was sitting at her desk when she heard Lou, one of the more senior reporters in the department, yell, "Ella." She looked up to see Lou running towards the break room. Rushing over, she saw Ella was lying on the floor. Assessing the situation, she immediately noticed that she was breathing, but her eyes were closed.

"What happened?" Sue asked.

"She just collapsed," he answered, obviously unsure what to do.

Sue bent down and gently shook her arm, "Ella? Ella? Wake up!"

Sue noticed Bri coming out of an office and called for her, "Bri!"

Glancing up, Bri saw Rory on the floor and asked, "Oh my God, what happened?"

"She fainted and still hasn't woken up," Sue explained. After a minute or so more without Rory waking up, they started getting really worried that something was seriously wrong.

Bri had tried talking to Rory to get a response out of her. When that didn't seem to be working, she looked up at Sue.

Turning towards the gathered group, Sue ordered, "She's not waking up, Lou call an ambulance."

As Lou took off towards the phone at the closest desk, someone asked, "Should we call her family?"

"Probably," Sue replied and then looked at Bri as if asking who to call. Bri froze not knowing how to get Logan and alert Lorelai without any questions being asked. Finally, Bri opened her mouth to reply and almost let it slip to contact Logan, but before she could respond, Sue said, "Mike should have contact information, we need to ask him."

"Where is he?" Bri almost yelled.

"In a meeting with the big shots, I even think Huntzberger junior is here," Lou responded.

"Well, go get him!" Bri urged, having her problem solved for her and knowing that Logan needed to be there when Rory woke up.

"You **cannot** interrupt that meeting," Alison, one of the secretaries, added in, looking at Bri as if this were obvious.

"Well, then, go downstairs, and ask him in person!" Bri stated, wanting Alison to move and knowing Mike was in a meeting with Logan. She would have considered calling him, but Rory always said he never answered his phone in meetings.

"And get fired? I'm not loosing my job to tell him some girl fainted," she shot back looking at Bri like she was crazy.

"Ugh," Bri groaned loudly, "I'll take full responsibility, but I don't think that will happen."

"So she just fainted?" someone asked, yet again.

"Yeah," was the mumbled reply from Lou who just returned from calling 911. At the same time, whispered explanations moved through the group as new people were brought up to speed on what was going on.

--

Alison saw the elevator, but realizing she'd have to wait, went for the stairs, going down the two flights to get to the floor she knew the meeting was on. She made a move for the door, when a woman around her age cut her off and asked snidely, "Where do you think you are going Alison?"

Alison rolled her eyes and said, "I need to talk to Mike Jacobson."

"Why? You know who's in that meeting? I already tried with him, and it didn't work, do you really think he'd want you? Besides, do you think you'll get him by interrupting his meeting?" the girl asked, as if trying to prove a point.

"I need to talk to Mike," Alison said slowly and the explained, "Ella fainted, we had to call 911, and now someone needs to call her family."

At first, the woman looked like she didn't believe the story, but finally moved and said, "Fine, but I'll know if you're lying."

Alison moved, knocked on the door, and took a deep breath before opening it to a group of surprised faces.

"Excuse me? What are you do-" Charles Holmes started without thinking, being the Editor in Chief usually meant this was his role. He stopped abruptly when, at the same time, he heard Logan asking, "Is there something we can do for you?" and remembered Logan was running this meeting.

Alison gave Logan the sweetest smile she could muster and said, "I needed some information from Mr. Jacobson."

Looking surprised but trying to look authoritative at the same time, Mike asked, "What is it?"

"We need you to look up someone's emergency contact information."

"Whose?" Mike asked, he didn't know the last time that information was needed.

"Ella, she fainted, and we had to call an ambulance," Alison explained.

Charles was concerned, and then, remembering who Ella was, a look of shock overtook his face, but imagined it was nothing compared to the look of sheer horror on Logan's when he looked in his direction.

Mike turned to ask Mr. Huntzberger if he could be excused from the meeting, but when he did, he saw that his boss was already out of his chair and rushing to the door. Mike then turned to Mr. Holmes who also looked concerned. It surprised Mike that the two biggest execs at the meeting were worried about a simple reporter, yet he offered an apology, and left the room with Alison. When they did, they saw Logan run past the elevator and take the stairs.

--

Logan was surprised to see an interruption in the meeting and when the name Ella was mentioned, it didn't register at first. When it did, he remembered that they said an ambulance had been called and panic overtook him, and all he could think of was getting upstairs. He rushed out of the room as calmly as possible, but when he reached the hall, he broke out into a run. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the fifth floor. He saw a group gathered and assumed that Rory was at the center of it.

As he approached, he saw Bri sitting on the ground next to Rory and asked her, "What happened?" in a tone that left no room for questions, and surprised the rest of the staff.

Bri looked at the man who witnessed it so he replied, "She was walking to the break room then stopped suddenly and tried to grab onto the desk, but still fainted. I think she hit her head when she fell."

As he was talking, Logan kept moving towards Rory and had already reached her when Lou finished his explanation. He went to sit down and Bri moved, letting him get closer.

He picked up her hand and then gently kissed her forehead and whispered, "Please be okay," softly enough that no one could hear.

Sitting up, Logan demanded, "She needs to go to the hospital!"

"The ambulance is on its way Logan," Bri said calmly, knowing his tone had probably scared everyone else.

Just then, Mike walked up, having already retrieved Ella's contact information. "Mr. Huntzberger, I'm sure she'll be fine. They said the ambulance is on its way, and I was just about to call her parents…" Mike glanced at the information he had just pulled, "Mr. and Mrs. Danes…that's weird, no first names."

Logan pulled out his phone, handed it to Bri, and stated, "Call Lorelai."

In the background, someone could be heard asking, "Lorelai? His fiancé?"

"Why would he call his fiancé?" someone else asked, but the group again became silent, not wanting to miss anything.

Bri nodded and went through his phone book while Logan told Mike, "Bri's taking care of it."

Bri pressed the call button and after a few rings heard, "No, not Logan, Lorelai, it's Bri…No, he's still alive…I'm okay, I'm actually calling about Rory…no, we're still at work…She fainted…Logan's with her…I'm not sure…hold on." Bri turned to Logan, held out the phone, and said, "She wants to talk to you."

Taking his eyes off Rory just long enough to grab the phone, he asked, "Lorelai?... Not yet, I'll call your cell when I get more information…I will, I promise…I'll see you there…bye."

Logan hung up and put his phone back into his pocket. Turning back to Rory, he finally focused on just her and let his emotions loose.

"Ace, you need to be okay," he said not being as quiet as he was before. As he began talking, all eyes and ears settled on the scene of the young Huntzberger and Ella. Logan grasped her hand and starting checking her over for any signs of injury.

Logan turned to see if anyone was there yet and yelled, "Where is the ambulance?"

"It's on the way," Bri offered, trying to be calm.

"What kind of response time is this anyways? She needs help!"

"Logan, she's breathing and has a pulse; I'm sure they will be here soon and get her to the hospital."

Logan nodded and the asked, "What if something's really wrong? What if they can't help her?" Logan asked starting to become more panicked. This time, Bri stayed silent, not knowing how to calm him and watched as Logan leaned over Rory's body, stroking her hair and staring at her as if he could will her awake.

As he was doing this, the elevator opened to reveal two paramedics rolling a stretcher and carrying a bag. They immediately moved towards the crowd.

One began looking Rory over, having to ask Logan to move a few times before he finally gave them room to work, while the other took on the task of gathering some basic information.

"Name?" he asked.

"Ella Danes," Sue supplied after a brief second when no one else spoke up. As the EMT started to write, Logan snapped out of his daze and said, "Rory Gilmore."

The EMT looked at the two confused and glanced from Sue to Logan, hoping to clarify, he asked, "I need the patient's name?"

Sue remained silent under the look her boss gave her, which let Logan reply, "Rory Gilmore."

"Did you see what happened?"

Logan shook his head so the paramedic turned to the crowd and repeated the question.

To this, Lou nodded and gave the same description he had to everyone prior: Rory was walking, stopped suddenly, and then collapsed a few moments later.

"Had she been feeling ill before this?"

Sue answered this time, "I saw her rush to the bathroom quickly a while ago, it sounded like she was throwing up. I asked her about it, and she said it was nothing: She was fine."

The EMT nodded while taking notes and then saw that he was needed to help move Rory. He walked over and helped maneuver everything, so that they could place Rory on the stretcher. As they were elevating it, a muffled, "Logan?" could be heard coming from her.

Logan rushed back over to her, took her hand back in his and said, "Yeah Ace, I'm here."

Rory was trying to talk again but Logan cut her off before she could start, "Just relax Ace, I'll make sure they take good care of you." He then stepped forward, kissed her lips quickly and whispered an _'I love you'_ as Rory closed her eyes again.

The EMT finally said, "We'll be taking Miss Gilmore to Columbian Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan." As they started to move her, Logan made to follow the stretcher.

As he did, the EMT spoke, "Sir, you need to let go. We need to take her in the ambulance."

"I'm going with her," he replied.

"Are you related to her?"

"No, but…"

"Then, you can't come in the ambulance, you can drive to the hospital and see her there, but we cannot let you come with her."

"But I'm her…"

"Company policy, I cannot allow you in the ambulance."

"She'd want me with her!" Logan exclaimed.

"And, if she were conscious, she could make that choice, but she isn't so we can't let you."

Getting frustrated, Logan roared, "Do you know who I am?" At the blank look on the EMT's face, Logan continued, "Do you know how much money my family donates to the hospital each year?"

"I could get fired, we could get sued, we could loose our insurance policy," The EMT tried to explain.

"If you do not let me go with her, I can assure you, you will be fired."

"I'm sorry sir, I cannot let you, and I doubt I would be fired for following company policy," one of the EMTs answered, starting to get worried.

"Trust me, when the hospital is threatened with not receiving donations from the Huntzbergers, they will be quick to fire anyone who stood in my way!" Logan yelled, scaring most of the people in the office who had never heard him yell like that.

The two EMTs looked at each other not knowing what to do.

"I will be going with my fiancé, whether you like it or not!"

"Fiancé?" someone on staff asked.

"Yes, my fiancé," Logan reaffirmed and then turned back to the EMT, "Are we going now?"

The EMT just nodded silently, and the group headed towards the elevator.

--

The group of Rory's co-workers breathed a huge sigh of relief when they heard Rory's voice, and they all were surprised to hear her call for Logan. That turned out to be nothing compared to their reaction when they saw Logan kiss her quickly. While they were concerned about Rory, they couldn't help but notice the way he was acting towards her and knew there was more to their relationship than that she was his former editor.

The staff watched as Rory was taken onto the elevator, and after the doors closed, a silence fell over the group. People were shocked until someone broke it by again asking, "His fiancé?"

No one answered, but started sending questioning looks towards Bri. She knew what was about to happen and had no idea what she should say. After a second, she made a break for it, just saying, "I need to go." She quickly went to her desk, gathered up her things, and thinking she should call Finn to let him know what happened, pulled out her phone.

"Hey Finn…I actually need to tell you something….Rory fainted and was taken to the hospital…Logan went with her in the ambulance…I was just heading out when I thought I should call you…I was thinking of going down there…sure, I'll meet you there…can you call Colin and Steph?...Bye." Bri closed her phone and headed out, happy to escape the inquisition had she stayed any longer.

--

The group watched Bri leave. Once she had left, the speculations began.

"I thought his fiancé's name was Lorelai, he said her name was Rory," one report asked.

"Maybe he just said that so he could go with her," Sue offered.

"But he kissed her!" Alison practically yelled.

"Maybe she's his girlfriend on the side," the other secretary commented.

"But he had Bri call Lorelai, why would he call his fiancé to tell her something happened to his girlfriend?"

"Wasn't the fiancé's last name Gilmore as well?" a photographer asked.

"Maybe they're sisters, I mean, he would call to tell her if her sister was sick right?" someone else offered.

"Yeah, but he clearly said Ella was his fiancé," Sue reminded.

The arguing continued until Lou walked up and announced, "Rory Gilmore's full name is Lorelai Leigh Gilmore."

"What? How do you know?" someone questioned.

"Yale online directory," he answered as if it were obvious.

"So what does that mean?" Alison

"She's the fiancé!" someone yelled from the other side of the room.

"What about the Lorelai they called?"

"She could have been named after her grandmother or some other relative, so it was probably them. I mean, Huntzberger did tell Bri to call and said they were taking care of it when Mike mentioned he was going to call her family," Sue offered trying to be logical.

This spurred another round of debate, but not having any more information, the conversation was now repeating itself as the office staff was now in a frenzy.

--

While all of this was going on, Mike was standing to the side having just watched the scene between Ella…no, Rory, and Logan Huntzberger. He had gone from disbelief over Logan's actions, to shock when Rory called for him proving they were intimately connected, to pure horror when Logan confirmed their true relationship. And now, he was listening to his staff speculate on the details of the situation. For his part, Mike was outraged to hear she had lied about her identity.

'Oh, no!' he exclaimed to himself. How was he going to explain that to Mr. Holmes? She lied about her identity which obviously was grounds for immediate dismissal. But, if he fired her, Huntzberger junior would probably fire him for doing so. And, who ever she was, whether she was in deed the heir's fiancé or not, it was apparent she was close to Logan. And, even before this predicament, he had threatened to fire her! Oh no, had Logan asked her about him? Would he get fired anyway because of things he had said to Ella? And what if she was his fiancé? He had yelled at his boss's future wife…that wouldn't be good.

His face fell in pure horror as he heard Lou walk up to the group exclaiming, "Rory Gilmore's full name is Lorelai Leigh Gilmore." Having basically memorized the engagement announcement and subsequent articles about the pair to show the boss how observant and worthy of better things he was, he knew instantaneously that he was in trouble. 'She **IS** the fiancé,' he exclaimed silently. And he tried to get her to suck up to Logan for him. No wonder she seemed to be so uncomfortable talking about him…

He had assumed, like most other people, that it was a loveless society marriage. But seeing them together, he wasn't so sure: He had to reassess his tactics for getting in good with the boss…that is, if he kept his job. One thing that did make sense to him now was Ella's absolute calm when he mentioned that Junior wanted her and Bri fired for being late on his first day visiting the office. No wonder Ella spoke so horribly to him: She had every reason to. She was sleeping with him!

--

The ride to the hospital had taken longer than Logan had liked, but he wasn't complaining since they seemed to be checking Rory over the whole time, and he didn't want to distract them. She had opened her eyes a few more times. Though Logan knew she was still out of it, seeing her eyes made him feel better about her condition. He even heard the EMT's talk about how she had regained consciousness which was a very good sign.

When they arrived, they moved Rory out of the ambulance. As they took her in, they were met by a nurse who directed them to an open examination room.

Before they got too far, Logan spoke up, "I want her in a private room."

"Sir, we are just taking her to an examination room."

"I want her in a private room," Logan repeated.

"She hasn't been admitted to the hospital," the nurse tried to explain.

"Then admit her!"

"Heath insurance won't pay for her to be admitted unless there is a reason."

"I don't care how much it costs; I want her to be as comfortable as possible!"

The nurse looked skeptical, but then one of the EMTs whispered something to her and realization flashed on her face. Logan assumed the EMT had told her his name, but didn't care since the next thing he heard was the nurse redirecting them to another room where Rory would be examined.

They moved Rory onto a bed, leaving Logan alone with her for a few moments before a different nurse than the one who directed them into the room entered to take her vitals. Once she was done, she turned to Logan to get some information.

"Full name?"

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore."

"Are you her next of kin?"

"No, I'm her fiancé."

"Who is?"

"Her mother, Lorelai Gilmore. She's been called and is on her way, but it will probably be a while before she gets here. She lives just outside Hartford, Connecticut."

The nurse nodded, but continued collecting information, "Birthday?"

"October 13, 1984."

"Any allergies?"

"Penicillin."

"Medical Conditions?"

"No," Logan said simply, continuing to glance over towards Rory every few seconds.

"Do you know of any medication she is on?"

"Birth control," Logan answered generically.

"Has she been sick or feeling ill?"

"She looked a little tired this morning, but she just said she hadn't slept well last night."

"Anything else?"

"Someone said they thought she might have thrown up today at work."

"Is there any chance she is pregnant?"

Logan was surprised at the question, but immediately shook his head no.

"Are you sure?" the nurse asked again.

Logan nodded and then offered, "She started her period yesterday."

The nurse took that as confirmation enough and continued down the list of questions.

A few minutes later, the nurse left saying the doctor would be by momentarily to start the diagnosis. Logan took a seat next to Rory's bed and again took her hand. His mind immediately started playing every scenario that he could think of.

Thankfully, his thoughts were interrupted by a faint, "Logan?"

Standing up to get even closer, he said, "Hey Ace, how are you feeling?"

"Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, gave us all quite the scare," he said, trying to appear calm.

"What happened?"

"You fainted," Logan said softly.

"Oh," Rory said, now looking embarrassed.

"Why did you stay at work if you were throwing up?"

"I needed to get work done."

"Rory, the point of a sick day is so you can take a day off when you're sick. Throwing up more than qualifies as being sick."

Rory only nodded so Logan said, "Your mom's on her way here."

"Why?" Rory asked.

"Because she's worried about you, I told you, you gave us all a scare."

Rory gave a small smile and said, "I promise not to do it again."

"Sounds good," Logan said and kissed her quickly before sitting on the edge of the bed.

Soon there a knock on the door before it opened and someone who Logan presumed was the doctor, walked in.

"Miss Gilmore, glad to see your awake, I'm Dr. Keller" he greeted in a friendly tone.

"Hi," she said.

"And you are?" he asked turning to Logan.

"Logan Huntzberger, her fiancé," Logan offered and extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you, now it says here, you fainted."

Rory shrugged and said, "That's what they tell me."

The doctor nodded and continued, "Do you remember what happened before you fainted?"

"I felt dizzy."

"Had you felt dizzy before that?"

"Yes, but it was never as bad."

"It says here someone thought you had thrown up today."

Rory nodded, "I did twice."

From there, the doctor asked a series of question to Rory, but was being continuously interrupted by Logan who kept trying to ask the doctor what her answers could mean. When the nurse arrived, he ordered a few tests and then asked Logan to step out of the room as they performed a quick exam.

--

Logan left the room only when Rory told him to leave, telling him she would be fine. Logan decided he should call and give Lorelai an update and headed to the waiting room. He pulled out his phone and called her, passing on the little information he had and then hung up. As he did so, he heard someone call his name and looked up to see Finn and Bri running towards him.

"We got here as soon as we could," Bri said.

Before she could get any further, Finn cut her off, saying, "How is she?"

"She's awake now. They're examining her so I came out to give Lorelai an update."

"I called Colin, he said he would come when his class ended, and I left Steph a message, she's at work and doesn't get reception in the lab," Finn mentioned, "Honor wants you to call her when you find out more information. She said there are probably enough people here as it is, and she and Josh are driving back from Maine and still a few hours away." Logan nodded in response. It was obvious to both Finn and Bri that he was still worried about Rory and wouldn't be saying much until he found out what was wrong.

--

Logan was again sitting on the edge of the bed, playing with the ring Rory had put back on her finger not long after the nurse finished with the tests. He had to admit he liked it better there. Logan wasn't sure he liked the silence, but knew if he started talking he would probably say something highly inappropriate, and while Rory was acting calm, he knew, on the inside, she was a nervous wreck.

Over an hour had passed since the tests were taken, and during that time, the nurse had come in to check Rory's status. Now, finally, the doctor again knocked as he opened the door with a chart and some papers in hand.

Before he could say anything, Logan asked, "Do you know what's wrong?"

The doctor nodded, "I'll explain fully, but let me start by saying after a few days rest you will be perfectly fine."

"But she fainted, what if she…"

He was cut off by Rory, "Logan, let the doctor explain."

Dr. Keller gave her a grateful smile, as he was slightly fearful of Logan at this point, and then said, "You have a few things going on. It looks like the nausea was caused by mild food poisoning. You are also slightly dehydrated, but that is a result of the nausea. Now your fatigue is most likely due to lack of sleep and stress…"

As he said that, Logan interjected, "I told you! You work to hard."

Rory shot Logan a glare and then turned back to the doctor, who was looking amused by the exchange, but continued, "It also appears you have a slight iron deficiency in your blood…"

"She has anemia?" Logan asked, not being about to stop himself.

"No, her blood levels are just slightly anemic, onset by blood loss, and it is what contributed to the dizziness. If she wasn't already fighting the food poisoning and the lack of sleep, she would probably have never had any symptoms from the blood loss."

"What caused it?" Logan asked, really not liking the words blood loss.

"Her menstrual cycle. Like I said, if you haven't had problems in the past, I'm inclined to believe that all of this was a combination of things rather than a root problem. As for treatment today, all I can say is you need bed rest and fluids. Since you're already admitted, I want to keep you here long enough to give you some fluids by IV and make sure your dizziness doesn't come back."

"What about the blood loss?" Logan asked, still not liking the sound of it.

"A body is capable of functioning with that small amount of blood loss, and treating the other problems should also fix the symptoms she was feeling from that. However, she should come back in a week to have her blood redrawn and tested to make sure all of the levels have returned to normal. I'm also going to want you to take iron supplements for the next 3 days. But, you can also talk to your physician, he may want you to continue taking a small iron supplement to avoid this problem in the future."

Rory nodded, "Thank you Dr. Keller."

"My pleasure, now you can have visitors but try to rest, the nurse will be in to check on you periodically. You should be released soon so you can go home and rest," he explained and then excused himself from the room.

Logan was sitting cautiously next to her deep in thought, so she asked, "What's wrong?"

"I shouldn't have let you go to work today, why didn't I notice how sick you looked?"

"Logan, it's not your fault, and you heard the doctor, I'm going to be fine. Now, I want to see my visitors!"

Ignoring her request, he started mumbling, "I'll talk to Holmes about cutting back your hours and maybe you should take more days off throughout the year."

"Logan!"

"What?" He asked, breaking his thoughts and now looking at her worried something was wrong.

"I'm not cutting back my hours or taking more sick days," Rory said calmly.

"Why not? You can't overwork yourself, what if something worse happens next time?"

Becoming frustrated, Rory said firmly, "I will not get special treatment because I'm _your_ fiancé Logan. The whole office probably knows by now anyways."

Logan stopped and stayed silent, thinking about what she had said, not wanting to concede, he offered, "We'll worry about the staff later, for now, will you at least promise to use the sick days you have if you're not feeling well?" and then offered, "I don't want to see you like that again Rory."

Rory nodded and gave him a quick kiss and then demanded, "Visitors!"

Logan let out a strained laugh, but kissed her once more before leaving the room. He returned followed closely by Finn and Bri. They both seemed more relaxed than she expected and figured Logan must have explained what was wrong already.

"Love!" Finn exclaimed running towards Rory and giving her a hug.

"Finn! Don't hug her too tight," Logan yelled.

Rory rolled her eyes and hugged Finn back and then told Logan, "I'm not made of glass you know."

"Yeah mate, you're being a bit overprotective," Finn teased and sat on the bed next to Rory, and both started talking excitedly.

"Logan, she's fine," Bri offered. Seeing he didn't look convinced, Bri had to hold back a laugh as she walked over to see her friend. Logan watched on and soon heard the door open to reveal Colin and Steph.

From her bed, Rory said, "Hey, you guys didn't need to come."

"Of course we did!" Steph said cheerily, "I'm just glad Colin came by work to get me."

"Thank you Colin," Rory offered.

"How are you feeling Rory?" he asked, he wouldn't admit it, but he had been very worried since Finn's call.

"I'm fine Colin," Rory said and filled in the new arrivals about what had happened. At the end, she added, "I'd be better if Logan would understand I'm okay."

Colin glanced at Logan and said, "Let's give the girls some time alone," hoping to talk to him.

"Sure," Logan said and left behind Colin.

Rory looked amused at Finn who was still sitting on her bed. Finally Steph asked, "Whatchya doin' Finn?"

"He said girl time!" Finn said happily.

"You're not a girl…" Rory said slowly.

"You used to let me stay," he said with a pout.

"That's because we needed more than just the two of us…we have Bri now," Steph explained.

"You're kicking me out?" he exclaimed.

Rory and Steph looked at each other and then nodded causing Finn to dramatically walk towards to the door and could be heard muttering, "But they're not pretty," as he left. Once the door closed behind him, all three girls started laughing. Soon they settled down, and Steph began telling them how Colin didn't noticing her stripping.

--

They had barely gotten outside the door when Colin asked, "Are you okay?"

Logan shot back, "If you saw Steph unconscious on the floor would you be okay?"

"Fair enough, but now that you know she's okay, how are you?"

"Mentally going through every possible thing I could have done to prevent it."

Walking up to them in the middle of the conversation, Finn asked, "And what ideas have you come up with?"

"Make her work less hours, take a day off once a month, make sure she doesn't go to bed to late…"

"You're giving her a bedtime?" Finn asked, hoping Logan would see how ridiculous he was being.

It didn't have the desired effect; Logan shot Finn a look that managed to shut him up and continued, "No more eating out except for restaurants where I know the chef"

"She'll starve!" Colin pointed out. At Logan's confused face, he added, "She lives on takeout."

"Well, that's another thing…healthier food. Which also means, no coffee."

"Logan……No" Finn stated.

Shooting him another look, he replied, "What?"

"You really think cutting off her coffee is in your best interest?"

"I don't care about me: I want her to be okay."

"And, you have to be alive to do that," Colin pointed out. While this was meant as a joke, he was also serious…Rory really loved her coffee.

"Anything else?" Finn asked.

"She can't overexert herself," Logan said simply.

This caused Colin to laugh while Finn said, "That should be easy. Gilmore Girls do not exercise."

"Yup," Logan replied, but then asked Colin, "Why are you laughing?" this was not like him.

"Before bed too?" Colin asked through his laughter. Logan nodded in reply, not understanding what was so funny.

"You banned sex!" Colin said still laughing, and was soon joined by Finn.

"That's not what I meant," Logan tried to defend.

"Are you saying sex does not exert energy?" Colin challenged.

"Poor Rory," Finn sighed.

"Hey, I wouldn't be having sex either," Logan pointed out.

"Yeah, but apparently, you're banning it as a strenuous activity, I'm wondering if Rory would even agree that it was strenuous. That can't be pleasurable, maybe I should go offer her my services…" Finn said with a smile.

"Don't you dare!" Logan practically yelled, even though he knew Finn was kidding.

"Besides wanting to lock Rory away, are you okay?" Colin asked.

"I never want to see her in a hospital bed again," Logan admitted.

"So Rory's going to have a home-birth?"

"You still think I'm being ridiculous?" Logan asked, the joking nature now gone.

"Not for wanting to keep her safe, but you have to realize that to some extent you can't," Colin explained.

"Why not?" Logan groaned.

"Money can't get you everything. Some things are out of your control," Finn threw in from the window where he was looking in at the girls and noticed Bri was doing all the talking. He wondered what she was saying.

"You can want her to get a regular check up, or take a day off when she's worn out, but there will always be something out of your control, and you can't ask her to stop living."

"Yeah mate, you're the one who got her to jump off the scaffolding…what if the stunt hadn't gone as planned?" Finn pointed out.

"So now, I'm the hazard to her health?" Logan asked, becoming even more worked up.

Colin looked at Finn and hissed, "Fix this!"

"Logan," Finn said. When he still seemed to be in deep thought, Finn tried again, "That's not what I meant, Logan." Knowing he now had Logan's attention, Finn continued, "You love life, you take risks, and that's one reason you are good for her. After all you've done to try and make her live life, you can't now ask her to live in glass case."

"Logan," Colin jumped in, "one thing that attracted you to Rory was that you could experience everything as if it were new again through her eyes. And, she loves you because you forced her to confront life. Don't you see, you are the one who gets her to relax and enjoy life, you can't force her to stop now."

Logan only nodded knowing they were right, but quietly added, "I just don't like seeing her hurt."

Knowing there was nothing more to say, Finn looked into Rory's room, and noticed Steph was hugging Bri. Since he knew Logan was starting to see reason, he said, "Why don't we go check on the girls. Make sure they haven't gone too crazy in our absence."

--

While the guys were talking, Rory had told them about the look on Logan's face when he heard the lingerie he managed to get his hands on was from Honor. Next, Bri was telling them a short version of what happened with Finn, including a bit more about the story of her ex. She knew it would be big to tell them, but she and Rory had become close friends already, and now she was on her way to becoming close with Steph as well. And, she thought telling them this was a token of trust. To say the girls were shocked was an understatement. They were all now situated on the bed, and because of the IV, Rory couldn't move much, so Steph was left to give Bri a hug as she finished her story.

This was the scene the guys found when they walked back into the room. Steph was the first to notice them and nudged Bri so they could both get off the bed. Finn saw Bri's watery eyes and walked over to her, giving her a tight hug as she stood up. Steph went to sit by Colin while Logan reclaimed his seat on the edge of Rory's bed. The three couples remained silent until Finn decided to break it, "Love, did you know Logan wants you to have a home-birth?"

"What, why?" Rory asked, sounding concerned.

Embarrassed, Logan defended, "I just said I don't want to see you in a hospital again. So he asked if you would be having a home-birth."

"Hey, it was a fair question! And, you didn't deny it," Finn argued back.

"The hospital has drugs," Rory said seriously before Logan has a chance to respond to Finn.

"Well, there are a lot of advocates for it," Logan pointed out.

"Logan the hospital has drugs, good drugs," Rory repeated.

"I don't know much about it, I just know more and more people consider it."

Steph saw that nothing was going to come out of this and reminded Logan, "If she has a baby at the hospital, there will be more doctors there to make sure she is okay. Do you want to see anything happen to her?"

"No," Logan finally relented, knowing he never really wanted a home-birth, it was just seeing Rory in a hospital that he didn't like.

"Good answer," Steph said with a smile and turned the conversation to a special she watched the night before. The six friends continued to talk to pass the time, while the nurses came in to check on her.

Once Logan knew Rory was comfortable, he stepped out to call Lorelai who was still about an hour away. He told her that on top of being tired, Rory had food poisoning which dehydrated her and a slight iron deficiency. He then explained that she would be fine after a few days of rest combined with water and iron suppliments. Logan also said Rory would probably be released before she arrived. After the call, he went back into the room and continued talking with his friends.

About an hour later, Rory was being discharged from the hospital, and the doctor was giving Logan instructions: have her eat healthy, drink water and juice, take iron, but most importantly, rest. After signing the paperwork, Logan took Rory down to the car Finn had waiting. Since they had both come in the ambulance, Finn offered to take them back; he was going to the same place anyways. Colin and Steph had left when the doctor said she could be released, but said to call if they needed anything. Bri had left just before that, needing to pick Maddy up from pre-school, but also saying to call if they needed any help.

Once they were settled in the car, Logan called Lorelai again, who was just reaching the city. She asked if there was anything they needed so Logan gave her the list he had from the doctor. Lorelai was happy to be able to do something and told Logan she'd see him at the apartment.

--

When they reached the apartment, Rory refused to let Logan carry her, saying she was fine. Logan finally gave up but insisted on having an arm tightly around her waist to steady her…just in case. They made their way into the apartment, and Logan got her settled on the couch in the living room. Once he was sure she was set, he sat down next to her and kissed her, only deeper than any kiss they had exchanged since she fainted. The kiss continued until Logan needed to breathe, he took a few deep breathes, but before he could say anything else, Rory spoke, "Logan, I'm fine."

"I know," Logan admitted honestly. Logically, he knew she was fine, but he still had an uneasy feeling about everything that had happened. Remembering all the instructions, he received when they left the hospital, he stood up and said, "I should get you water."

Rory wasn't really thirsty, but Logan was being too cute for her to say anything. He returned a minute later, glass in hand. As he moved towards Rory, he saw her face and asked, "What?"

"You, this is a whole new side of you."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Logan asked, a little apprehensive while handing her the glass.

"A good thing, I promise. I've never seen this side of you before," Rory said, smiling and taking a small sip of water.

Logan looked at the glass and said, "You need to drink more water."

"Logan, I'm not thirsty."

"But you need water."

"The doctor said I should just drink water or juice for the next 24 hours, not that I needed to drink gallons of it."

Logan conceded and settled on the couch next to her. They were silent for a minute before Rory asked, "They all know, don't they?"

Logan nodded and offered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry Logan, it was an emergency…I would have done the same if it were reversed."

"And what did I do?"

"Worry about me more than some stupid secret."

"It's not a stupid secret."

"Did they look mad?"

Logan let out a laugh, "I wasn't really paying attention, but from what I did catch, I would say more shocked."

Rory nodded, "I'm going to have to explain."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Rory shook her head, "No, I want to do this by myself."

"Okay, but if you change your mind, tell me, and I'll come with you," Logan said honestly and when Rory just nodded he turned on the TV. Logan could tell Rory was still thinking about work so said, "Ace, stop thinking about it, there's nothing you can do about it now."

"But…" Rory started.

"Please, just rest for the next 24 hours, then we can talk about it more if you want, you can worry, but please for now just rest."

--

Upon entering the apartment, Lorelai found Rory asleep with her head on Logan's lap while he was on the couch watching TV. Taking a few minutes, she set the bags on the counter and got some food ready before placing the items on a plate and walking out to the living room.

Logan saw Lorelai come in with some food and set it on the coffee table. He wanted Rory to sleep, but he also knew she needed to eat. So, he gently nudged her shoulder and whispered, "Ace, wake up."

"What?" Rory asked confused.

"Hey hun," Lorelai greeted.

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, and sat up to hug her mom, who was now on the other end of the couch.

"I brought you some food," Lorelai said, pointing to the plate.

"You don't have to do all of this, you didn't need to come," Rory said. She didn't like when people acted like she was crippled.

"Rory you were in the hospital, you're crazy if you thought I would stay home. Besides, I'm still your mom, and I want to do something."

Rory finally looked at the plate where there was a bowl of chicken noodle coup, crackers, and some mashed potatoes. Staring at it, and then back up at her mother, she said, "You know, I don't have strep throat, right?"

"I know, but the doctor said to get food easy on your stomach, and this is flu food."

Rory shrugged and started eating; she had to admit she was hungry. Logan looked at the plate and said, "You used the stove?"

Lorelai tried to look innocent and said, "No."

"Luke banned you from the stove! He made me promise not to let you near it!"

"I was only heating soup," Lorelai defended.

"I don't think it matters," Logan shot back.

"So, babe, as much as I love watching you eat soup, care to tell Mommy what happened," Lorelai asked Rory, only having got the very basics from Logan.

"Well, I fainted at work from an iron deficiency that was making me dizzy. They tell me I have food poisoning as well which is why I've been throwing up."

"So, you'll be okay."

"Yes, Mom, I'll be fine."

"Well," Lorelai started, trying to find the best way to ask her question, "will you be having _food poisoning_ for the next few months?"

"What?" Rory asked. Lorelai couldn't tell if she was just being coy and wanted to wait to share the news that she was pregnant or if she really just had food poisoning. When Logan called and told her Rory's diagnosis, she was sure 'food poisoning' was their code for 'pregnant,' and the food was because she was having morning sickness. She didn't ask because she assumed Rory made Logan promise that she would be the one to tell her mom. But, then there was always another way to find out; the very unique Gilmore Girl pregnancy test.

Seeing what Rory was eating, Logan remembered the instructions he had been given by the doctor and pointed out, "The doctor also said she needed to eat healthy. What else did you get; maybe Ace would like some yogurt"

"I got other stuff too," Lorelai said and walked back to the kitchen. She returned holding an item in each hand. Looking at them, Logan was about to say something when Lorelai spoke, "For yogurt, we have mint chocolate chip frozen **yogurt **and for fruit we have…"

"That's actually a piece of fruit!" Rory exclaimed.

"Yes, it's a kumquat," Lorelai said with a grin.

"Dirty!"

"I know! But I figure, something with that name was my kind of fruit. And since you are mini-me, your kind of fruit too. So, Ror, would you like the kumquat?"

"Um, no, I think I'm good for now. Besides, Mom, we don't eat fruit."

"Dammit," Lorelai muttered, then, getting louder, "Just making sure you weren't pregnant."

"Mom," Rory said shocked, "why would you think I was pregnant?"

"Well, Logan called and said you had been throwing up and had food poisoning. I thought you were pregnant and just came up with that excuse so that you could be the one to tell me in person."

"Mom I'm not pregnant. But, I promise I'd tell you if I were."

"So you really have food poisoning?" Lorelai asked, now reexamining what Logan had told her.

"Yup."

"Well that sucks," Lorelai said,

"Don't I know it," Rory said jokingly.

"So what cause the iron deficiency?"

"My period…"

"I guess that would kill the pregnancy theory as well," Lorelai teased, not wanting Rory to think she was hoping for a baby. She really wasn't, but she liked the idea of having a baby around. Plus, Logan and Rory would be great parents, not to mention they would give her the gorgeous grandbabies she wanted.

Staying quiet through the exchange, Logan decided to get back to the point of healthy foods and pointed out, "Ice cream isn't yogurt."

"It's frozen yogurt, not ice cream! Ice is still water isn't it? So this is the same, it's like putting regular yogurt in the freezer!" Lorelai challenged.

"Yes, but ice doesn't have sugar and chocolate added."

"You should have been more specific," Lorelai said simply, setting down the items and taking a seat on the other side of her daughter and both sitting back and watching the show.

--

A few hours past and Rory was now curled up on the couch, while Logan was checking on the roast beef he was making. He decided it would be something light that Rory could eat, but was also something that would give her some iron. Softly, Rory asked, "Mom?"

"Yeah hun?"

"Can you get me a sweatshirt? There should be some hanging in the closet."

"Sure," Lorelai said and walked down the hall. She returned and handed Rory the requested item before asking, "Go on a shopping spree lately?"

"What?"

"You have a pile of boxes in there," Lorelai pointed out.

"Oh those, they were gifts."

"For what?"

"Steph, Paris, Lane, Honor, and Bri threw me a lingerie party."

"Really?" Lorelai said excited.

"Yes, I told Steph a while ago she couldn't buy me lingerie for my wedding shower so she found another way."

"And, what does Logan think of their choices?"

"He hasn't seen them," Rory replied.

"Hasn't seen what?" Logan asked, walking back into the room.

"The lingerie," Lorelai said like it were obvious.

"No, she won't let me look," Logan said pretending to look hurt.

"Well, that's not very nice of her."

"I know!"

"I mean, I clearly tried to teach her the art of seduction, apparently she didn't take notes."

"Ace not take notes?"

"Well, she was young and foolish….didn't know how important it would be."

"It's for our honeymoon!" Rory exclaimed.

"Not even a sneak peak?" Lorelai asked.

"Already tried that," Logan replied.

"You're no fun!" Lorelai teased, looking back to Rory who was now resting against Logan. Rory stuck out her tongue in reply making Logan and Lorelai laugh.

--

They had watched TV for a while longer before eating dinner and then settling in to watch _Monsters Inc_. The movie was about half way over when Logan noticed Rory was asleep and decided he should get her to bed. Taking her in his arms, he carried her down the hall, took off some layers of her clothes, and pulled the covers over her. He walked back into the living room to see Lorelai cleaning some dished off the coffee table and started to help.

"Is she still asleep?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, didn't even wake up," Logan admitted.

"Good, she needs the rest."

Logan nodded and then said, "I'm going to head to bed soon as well. You can take the same room as last time, anything you need before I go?"

"I think I'm good," Lorelai said and put the last plate in the dishwasher. She knew Logan was almost gone and gathering up her nerves called, "Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"You're good at taking care of her. It makes me feel better knowing you're there if I can't be."

"Thanks," Logan said truthfully.

"You'll make a good dad," she said before she could stop herself.

"What?" Logan asked, surprised at her comment.

"You were so worried about her and were ready to do anything to help make her better, that's what a good parent does."

"Really?" Logan asked, sounding unconvinced.

"Yeah, but you know what else?"

"What?" Logan asked, curious at what she would say.

"You did it because it was the only thing you could think to do, not because you thought you had too."

Logan just let her words sink in and heard a faint, "Goodnight Logan."

He mumbled, "Goodnight Lorelai," before shutting off the lights and walking down the hall.

He opened his bedroom door and saw Rory still asleep where he had left her. He walked to his closet and stripped to his boxers before crawling in next to her. He sat in bed taking a long look at her, needing to convince himself she really was okay before he would be able to sleep. After a few minutes, he laid down and pulled her against him before drifting off to sleep.

--

**_A/N: First, I really hope you like this chapter…I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous to know how you guys react! Second, to any medical workers out there…I'm sorry if I botched how EMS/hospitals work, we tried to make it realistic (including the symptoms for what was wrong), but neither of us are experts on the issue. Third, we just realized Rory's birthday is technically Oct. 8th, but by the time we did, the story timeline was too set to change events for that to be her birthday in the story. _**

**_In the future, if there is a reason why there won't be an update for a while, Christi generally will post a blog entry to give you all an update so check there in the future if there's a lull between updates. Also, go because more pics will be posted as the fic continues, and if you ever have a request of something you would like to see, let us know, and we'll do your best to put it up! _**

**_All of that being said, I hope the chapter was worth the wait (its 31 pages so it took some time to write), and PLEASE send me reviews! Thank you everyone for understanding, and a big thanks to Christi for helping me out so much with this chapter and the fic as a whole!!!_**


	28. He Threw Out My Coffee!

--

_**A/N: Hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you for all the reviews, I am so glad you all liked the last chapter. We were worried that you wouldn't like how Rory's coworkers found out.**_

--

Logan was woken up Tuesday morning by his alarm beeping. Glancing at the clock, he saw the bright red numbers read 6:45. Quickly, he reached over to turn it off, hoping it wouldn't wake Rory. After waiting a moment to make sure the alarm hadn't woken her, he checked her over as she slept. Thinking about his day, he immediately found his phone and walked out into the hallway.

After three rings, someone finally answered the call, "Cassandra?...Sorry, I know it's early…Well actually, I need you to clear my schedule for the day. I can take any urgent calls on my cell, but only urgent ones…Rory's sick, she was rushed to the hospital yesterday afternoon …She'll be fine, I just want to stay with her…Could you also call the _Observer_ and let them know she won't be in today…Anything? That's quite an offer Candi…Thank you…Bye," Logan said laughing, before hanging up.

--

Logan woke up again to find Rory still sound asleep next to him. Looking her over, yet again, he made sure she was okay. After a few minutes, he decided she was fine and got out of bed, seeing it was now just after 8:00. He pulled on a shirt and pair of athletic pants and went down the hall to the kitchen where he immediately flipped on the coffee maker. Next, he walked to the door and picked up the newspapers before sitting down at the table.

Five minutes later, he was out of his seat, going to get his morning cup of coffee. After he poured his cup, he looked at the pot and remembered that Rory couldn't have any so there was no reason to have made so much.

As if on cue, Lorelai made her appearance looking tired. Walking into the kitchen, she opened a cupboard, took out one of Rory's mugs and poured herself a cup. Watching her, Logan remembered that they had a house guest and realized that none of the coffee would go to waste. He saw Lorelai put two poptarts in the toaster and lean against the counter sipping her coffee. She refilled her coffee just in time to grab the poptarts as they popped up and walked to sit at the table with Logan.

When she sat, she noticed the smirk on his face and asked, "What?"

Logan shook his head, "It's scary how much alike you two are."

"Huh?" Lorelai asked confused.

Logan just gestured for her to have more coffee. After Lorelai took a few more sips, he figured it was enough to make her coherent and explained, "Your morning routines are almost identical."

Lorelai smiled and gave him a nod, "Where do you think she learned it?"

"Hadn't really thought about it," Logan replied. And in truth, he hadn't, he never really watched Lorelai that closely in the morning. Usually, he was too busy talking with Rory about the paper.

Lorelai took another sip of coffee and then asked, "So why are you home?"

"Rory's sick," Logan said simply.

"I know, but I just figured you'd have to go to work."

"No, I called my secretary this morning and had her clear my schedule. I also asked her to call the _Observer_ and let them know Rory won't be in either."

"Earlier? I thought you just woke up?"

"My alarm went off at 6:45. So I woke up, called Candi, then went back to sleep."

"Candi?" Lorelai asked, unsure who that was.

"Cassandra," Logan explained.

"Okay, who's Cassandra?"

"My secretary," Logan said as if she should have known.

"And you call her Candi because she has fake boobs and negative IQ?"

Logan laughed, "No, quite the opposite actually."

"So she had a breast reduction and is the next Einstein."

"What?" Logan asked confused.

"That's the opposite," Lorelai justified.

"Maybe, but not what I meant."

"Okay then, explain," Lorelai ordered.

"Why do you need to know this?"

"Because you are talking about some girl named Candi, and I'm bored, entertain me!"

"Cassandra is the secretary I hired for myself when I took the job in New York."

"And she's a young leggy blond?" Lorelai guessed.

"No, she a brunette in her late 30s, slightly shorter than Ace, who has been married for 12 years and has two kids."

"Really?" Lorelai asked skeptically, "Then, why do you call her Candi?"

"A few days after she started, I overheard a few of the women from the office cornering her in the break room. They were accusing her of trying to keep me all to herself, asked her how I was in bed, a bunch of not so nice things."

"Okay," Lorelai said not sure where this was going.

"So I called her in my office a while later and asked her about it. At first, she tried to deny it, but we ended up talking. That's when she told me about her husband and her kids, I told her about Rory…we broke the ice, if you will."

"Still not seeing the Candi reference."

"Well after we talked, she was less intimidated by me, and we got back on the subject of what the women had said to her. She started ranting about the other employees and 'how could they think that about her?' And, it wasn't like she said to call her Candi or some other ridiculous name. Ever since her self inflicted reference, it's become sort of an inside joke between us."

"And Rory's okay with this?"

"She didn't hear the story until after she had met Cassandra, which I'm sure helped, but yes, she finds it entertaining and thinks Cassandra is a 'such a sweetheart.'"

"Fair enough, now how's my baby doing?" Lorelai asked dramatically.

"Good. I think she'll sleep for a while longer, she needs it."

Lorelai nodded. As she did, a buzzing could be heard. Searching for the noise, Logan found Rory's cell vibrating behind one of the couch pillows. Looking at the caller ID, he saw Bri's name flashing on the screen.

"Hello," he greeted.

"Logan?"

"Hi Bri."

"Is Rory going to work today?"

"No," he replied, knowing it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.

"They're going to grill me!" Bri whined.

Logan laughed at her response. "So take a sick day," he teased, then added, "I promise you won't get fired."

Bri sighed, "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I already asked for Friday off. Besides, I'm supposed to be doing a photo spread of city spirit for the Mets first playoff game, and the other photographer is busy."

"That's not in the office."

"But…"

"Just call and say you need to take the morning off, but you'll still cover the event. They can't complain too much about that."

"Are you sure?" Bri asked skeptically.

"It's fine. If there are any problems, let me know, and I'll smooth it out."

"Thanks Logan."

"No problem, it's half my fault anyways," he admitted sarcastically.

"Bye," Bri concluded.

"Bye Bri," Logan replied. As he hung up, he saw Lorelai getting off of her phone as well, so he asked, "Everything okay?"

"Just trying to find someone to take my afternoon meeting."

"You can go if you need to."

"Rory's sick."

"I can take care of her," Logan promised.

"But I'm…" Lorelai started.

"Let me take care of her," he pushed.

Lorelai sighed. As much as she wanted to stay, Sookie couldn't make the meeting, and she needed to get used to Logan doing this. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, it was that she was still Rory's mom. She spent so much of her life making sure that Rory was okay that it was hard to hand over the job. Lorelai looked once more at Logan before finally nodding, "My meeting's at 1:30, but I'll only go if you're sure you don't need any help."

"I'll be fine, I swear."

"Okay, but I'm staying until she's awake," Lorelai bargained before sitting back down.

Logan knew she wouldn't leave any sooner so just asked, "Coffee?" Lorelai grinned and held out her mug.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Lorelai let out a sigh and said, "I know you can take care of her Logan, I watched you yesterday."

"Thanks, I was really bad the first time it happened," he admitted.

"What?"

"It was while you two were fighting."

"Probably why I haven't heard the story. What happened?"

"I had only been back from Europe for a few weeks, when I called Rory. When someone said hello, I asked why some guy was answering my girlfriend's phone."

"She had a guy over?" Lorelai asked confused, that didn't sound like Rory.

"No, she had lost her voice. It was so scratchy and hoarse that she just sounded like a guy."

"Oh man, this is good! How much trouble did you get in?" Lorelai asked, truly entertained by his tale.

"More than you can imagine. She started yelling at me on the phone, and then I started to feel bad because I could hear her voice getting worse."

"So what happened?"

"I hung up and headed over there."

"Okay well, that's not so bad."

"So I walked up to the pool house and knocked, she didn't answer so I opened the door to let us in."

"Us?"

"Finn and Colin had been with me when I called her."

"So I called for her, and she poked out of the bathroom, hair in a messy pony tail."

"She yelled at you more didn't she?"

"Well, at first she started about how I can't see her like this, that I had to leave. Then, she saw Finn and Colin and started yelling ever more. Not only about how she would not come out until they left, but how she was still contagious."

"What'd she have?"

"Strep throat."

"So what happened?"

"I made them leave and finally coaxed her out of the bathroom. Then, I made her some chicken for dinner."

"Chicken?"

"Yeah, she laughed at me and asked for soup and mashed potatoes."

"That's Rory for you."

"Well then, I looked up what to do for strep throat on the internet, and it recommended hot tea to soothe the throat."

"You actually tried to serve tea?"

"Tried being the key word, I even went to the house to get some. She laughed even more and poured coffee and told me it was the Gilmore equivalent."

"I'm so proud," Lorelai gushed, in an overly exaggerated tone.

"Well, I got better from there. I already knew how to pick movies and could sit on the couch like a champ," Logan joked.

"So you really have come a long way?" Lorelai asked, seeing the point in his story.

Logan nodded and refilled both of their coffees.

--

The morning at the _New York Observer_ was not as peaceful as Logan's had been. Mike walked in to find most of the staff gossiping.

"I can't believe he kissed her!"

"And why was he calling her Ace…I mean really what **is** her name: Ella, Rory, Ace, what?"

"I wonder what he gave the paper to get her hired."

"And Bri knew, maybe she got her job because of Huntzberger too."

Before Mike could get too caught up in the conversation, he was approached by his secretary, "Sir, I have some messages. The first was a call from Mr. Huntzberger's secretary, who was calling to let you know that Rory Gilmore would not be in today. The second was from Brianna Carter saying that she can't make it in this morning, but will still take photos at the Mets game."

Nodding his head, Mike walked into his office without a word and sat down to think over his options. He knew he would have to inform Charles that Ella lied about her identity when she applied for the job, which was grounds for removal. But, how could he fire the future Mrs. Huntzberger? Shaking his head, he went over some of his daily paperwork before making his way down a few floors to Mr. Holmes's office. After talking to Charles's secretary, he was soon led to his office.

"Good morning Mike," Charles greeted.

"Good morning sir," he replied

"How are the stories for Sunday's issue coming?" Charles asked.

"Good, already had a few interviews and the rest are coming along well," Mike automatically replied, trying to calm his nerves.

"Any big stories this week?"

"Nothing too big, but they should still attract readers," Mike answered, not wanting his boss to question the quality of his work.

"Always good to hear," Charles offered.

"How is the staff?" he continued when Mike didn't speak for a minute.

"Good, all good," Mike said vaguely, knowing this was what he was here to discuss.

"Problems with other editors?" Charles asked, trying to figure out what Mike needed.

"No, at least, not as far as I know."

"So, what brings you here?" Charles asked, noticing how awkwardly the conversation was progressing, and deciding to get to the point.

Mike opened his mouth a few times, not sure how he wanted to say this, and decided to stall a bit by saying, "I received some information yesterday, and I felt it necessary to inform you."

"On with it then," Charles instructed, now getting slightly impatient.

Mike stood nervously thinking about what he was about to do. He hoped the fact that he was only trying to follow company policy would keep him from being fired. Although it did kill the prospect of getting a promotion any time soon, he would just have to make up for it later. Taking a deep breath, he let out what he needed to say, "I have reason to believe Ella Danes lied about her identity and should be terminated from employment."

"Really?" Charles asked, trying to hide what he knew.

"Falsifying identification is grounds for removal," Mike quickly added.

"What are you basing this accusation on?" Charles asked, wanting to get a feel for what Mike knew.

"Yesterday, if you remember, Alison came by to tell me Ella fainted…" Mike began.

"Is she okay?" Charles interjected, hoping everything was alright.

"I don't know, she won't be in today."

"Okay, go on," Charles encouraged.

"When I got upstairs, I saw Mr. Huntzberger and Brianna tending to Ella. When I announced that I had her emergency contact information, Mr. Huntzberger said Brianna was calling her family."

Charles nodded, indicating for Mike to continue, "When the ambulance came and asked for her name, he didn't say Ella Danes. And later, we heard him tell the EMTs that she was his fiancé."

"What did he say her name was?" Charles asked.

"Rory Gilmore. We believe her full name is Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, Logan Huntzberger's fiancé."

"Are you sure?" he asked, wanting to get an idea of how much was revealed the day before and how much was speculation.

"There are still things we don't know, but he clearly said that she was his fiancé. Plus, the call this morning to say that she wouldn't be in was from his personal secretary. Regardless, I feel that whether or not she really is Mr. Huntzberger's fiancé, she should be terminated if she falsified her identity."

"Really?" Charles asked surprised.

Mike thought a lot about what he had just said, and as much as he knew it may be career suicide, he refused to compromise company policy. Working up his last bit of courage, he finally responded, "Yes."

"I think we need to talk to the employee in question before any decisions are made. Thank you for informing me, but I will take it from here."

"Sir, I just want to remind you that I had no part in the hiring and should not be held responsible for this error."

"Of course," Charles said, effectively dismissing Mike from his office. Sitting back at his desk, his looked up a phone number and then dialed.

"Hello this is Charles Holmes from the _New York Observer_, I need to talk to Mr. Huntzberger please…tell him it is urgent…Yes, I can hold."

A few minutes later, a voice came over the line, "Good morning Mitchum…well I was just talking to my City editor and thought I should pass on some information….About Rory…Well, I wasn't sure how sick she was so I called you…Yes, she fainted yesterday and was taken to the hospital by an ambulance…All I know is that Logan went with her…I'm sure he did…Well, it seems her secret is out…Jacobson came by to tell me and then recommend that she should be fired for falsifying information of her application…I didn't confirm or deny any of it, I wasn't sure how she wanted to handle it so I thought it best not to let on that I knew…I will…Goodbye."

--

Rory woke up tired, but feeling much better. She rolled over in bed, only to notice Logan was already gone. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was a little disappointed that he was already up and out of the apartment. Sitting up, she stretched her body and looked at the clock. 9:30. She hadn't planned on sleeping in, she wanted to get to work, but had to admit the extra sleep was probably needed. Finally deciding to get up, she pulled on some lounge pants and walked down the hall. When she entered the kitchen, she saw her mom talking and sipping coffee. At first, she thought her mom had finally lost it, but then heard Logan reply. Smiling, she walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You're home," she exclaimed.

"You're sick," Logan answered. He kissed her quickly before smirking and adding, "Where else would I be?"

"I thought you'd be at work," Rory answered as she moved though the kitchen.

"Well, I called Cassandra and asked her to clear my schedule for the day."

As he answered, Rory started pouring herself a cup of coffee, only to see the mug being dumped down the drain in the few seconds she took to put the pot back. "Logan!"

"You can't have coffee! The doctor said water and juice for 48 hours, so you can re-hydrate."

"I'm fine! You didn't need to cancel your meetings Logan; I'll be leaving for work soon anyways."

"Work?" Logan asked astonished.

"Yeah, you know the place I go everyday."

"Rory, you are not going to work today," he said firmly.

"Why not, I slept, I feel fine…I'm not crippled you know!"

"I know, but the doctor said to rest for a day, so you need to relax and stay off your feet."

"I sit at work," she shot back.

"You know what I mean. Besides, you're also supposed to relax…no stress."

"Logan, I can go to work."

"No," he said simply.

"Logan…" she whined.

"I'll fire you if you go into work today."

"You wouldn't!" she practically shouted.

"Wanna try me?" he challenged.

"Why does it matter that much?"

"In case you forgot _Rory_, you spent almost 10 minutes unconscious yesterday, you fainted!"

"I know what happened! Would you really fire me?"

"I would if it meant not seeing you like that again."

"Logan, I'm fine."

"I can see that you're fine, I want to keep you that way."

"By locking me up?" Rory challenged.

"Just humor me, and follow the doctor's orders for today. Stay home, drink water, take your iron…go to work tomorrow."

"Logan…."

"I already called you in sick. And no one would expect you to come in today after what happened yesterday."

Rory nodded, "Fine, but you don't need to stay with me."

"Well, you're mom is leaving soon, and I don't want you by yourself, you would sneak off to work."

"I wouldn't, I promise," Rory said seriously.

"Fine, but you'd sneak coffee," Logan shot back.

"Guilty!" Rory said happily.

"Exactly, but if it makes you feel any better, I told Cassandra to forward any important calls to my cell."

"It does," Rory answered and then asked, "are you cooking?"

"Lorelai was eyeing the stove; I took that to mean she was hungry."

"You didn't ask?"

"Not directly, but she started going on and on about how Luke makes breakfast every morning."

"Ah, so what are we having?"

"French toast."

"How ethnic of you," Rory teased.

"That's what she said, but you do know that it isn't actually French food right?"

"It has the word French in it. If it's not French, then that's false advertising…I could sue!" Rory shot back.

"You're too much like you're mother," Logan mumbled. This caused Rory to smile, wander to the table, and start talking with her mother.

"You conned Logan into making French toast Mom?"

"What can I say, I'm gifted," Lorelai said with a proud smile.

"So how long are you staying for?" Rory asked. It really was nice to have an unexpected visit from her mom.

"Only a few more hours," Lorelai answered.

"Oh," Rory let out. She honestly had to say she was surprised her mom was leaving so soon.

"I wanted to stay longer, but I have a meeting at the inn, and I couldn't find anyone else to take it. But, Logan promised he would take good care of you," Lorelai offered.

"He threw out my coffee," Rory tattled.

"He did not!" Lorelai gasped.

"He did," Rory affirmed.

"Are you going to punish him?" Lorelai asked with a knowing look in her eye.

"Maybe," Rory said with a smirk of her own.

Laughing at her daughter's bolder side, Lorelai shook her head, "I'm sorry, I can't let you do that."

"Why not? He threatened my coffee," Rory reminded her.

"It's for your own good. Rory, he was so scared when I talked to him, and I was too. You really should do what the doctor told you, it would make us both feel better."

Feeling bad about worrying them, Rory went for a change of subject, asking, "Ready for Saturday?"

"Saturday?"

"Yeah, The Great Wedding War: Part II," Rory supplied, happy her mother was so easily distracted.

"Ah, shopping with evil. No, I don't think one can fully prepare for that."

"It won't be that bad," Rory offered.

"Liar!" Lorelai exclaimed as Logan called out that breakfast was done. The two girls walked into the kitchen to get their French toast, Rory frowning when Logan insisted on giving her a half a grapefruit as well. Once they finished, Lorelai and Rory talked a while longer before Lorelai had to leave.

After Lorelai left, Logan and Rory settled on the couch to watch a movie. Not long after the opening credits started, Logan's cell phone rang. Getting up to not disturb Rory, he walked to the study to take the call.

"Huntzberger," he greeted, without looking at the ID.

"Logan," his father's voice boomed over the phone.

"Dad, what can I do for you?"

"I got a call from one of my employees today that was quite interesting," Mitchum started.

"Yeah," Logan replied, "about what?"

"Care to tell me why I found out from one of my employees that my future daughter-in-law was rushed to the hospital!" Mitchum demanded. Ever since the call from Charles, he had been bothered by the fact that Logan didn't feel the need to call and tell him.

"Sorry, I forgot to call," Logan replied.

"Well, is she okay?" Mitchum asked.

"What?"

"Rory, is she okay?"

"She's doing better. With some rest, she'll be good as new."

"I heard she was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. What was wrong with her?"

"She has food poisoning. That, along with stress and fatigue, was too much for her body to handle so she passed out," Logan answered, refusing to use the words period or menstruation while talking to his father.

"She passed out! How long was she out for?"

"About 10 minutes. The doctor said it was a combination of things making her unable to fight off the dizziness. But since it's never happened before, she should be fine after some rest."

"You should get a second opinion. I can call Dr. Mendleson for an appointment," Mitchum offered.

"Who?" Logan asked confused.

"Dr. Mendleson, he's one of the best internists in New York," Mitchum replied.

"For now, she's fine. But, I'll keep that in mind."

"At least call and have her go in for a routine check up. We don't want her to pass out again."

"I'll try to get her to go for an appointment Dad and thanks."

"And Logan…"

"Yeah, Dad."

"It was Charles Holmes who called me," Mitchum stated shortly.

"From the _Observer_?" Logan asked.

"Yes, apparently a Mike Jacobson went to see him this morning."

"What did he want?" Logan asked, fearing the worst.

"Well, it seems that Jacobson had reason to believe that Rory or 'Ella' falsified her application and should be fired."

"What?" Logan exclaimed.

"And apparently, he found out that her real name is Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, making her your fiancé."

"Why'd Holmes call you?" Logan asked confused.

"He wasn't sure how Rory was doing and didn't want to bother you with this," Mitchum said honestly.

"Anything else?" Logan asked, trying to figure out how he would tell Rory what happened.

"If Rory's feeling up to it, I was hoping we could have dinner while I'm in New York this week," Mitchum suggested.

"Why?" Logan asked, it wasn't often his father asked to have dinner.

"You didn't call anyone in the family, and your fiancé was rushed to the hospital," Mitchum reminded him, switching topics.

"Finn called Honor," Logan defended.

"But not me," Mitchum pointed out

"I wasn't thinking very clearly. The only person I was coherent enough to call was Lorelai," Logan offered, not wanting to cause a fight.

"You didn't even think to call me when Finn mentioned he told Honor?"

"No," Logan replied honestly.

"Why not?" Mitchum demanded.

"I wasn't even really registering what Finn was telling me. I mean, Finn took care of telling everyone. He knew to call Honor without me asking."

"Because…" Mitchum lead.

"I always call Honor when something big happens, it's natural. She was the one looking out for me my entire life."

Thinking about his answer for a moment, Mitchum finally asked, "Do you think that will ever change?"

"What will change?"

"Do you think you would ever call me when something big happens?"

"I guess eventually," Logan replied, even thought he was unsure of the answer himself.

"That's why I want to have dinner Logan, I want to make this better, be a family."

"When?" Logan asked, knowing his dad was trying.

"Thursday, if that would work for you and Rory. I'll be in the city for a meeting: It would be easier for me that way."

"I don't see why not, but it depends on how Rory's feeling."

"If Rory's not up to it, I can come one day next week."

"Okay Dad, I'll let you know."

"Tell Rory I hope she's feeling better."

"I will dad, thanks," Logan said truthfully. He still wasn't used to the improved relationship with his father, but since they barely fought anymore, he wasn't going to complain.

Hanging up his phone, he walked back to see Rory lying on the couch still watching the movie. Seeing Logan return, she asked, "Everything okay at work?"

"Yeah, that was my dad actually."

"What did he want?" Rory asked.

"To yell at me for not telling him you were taken to the hospital."

Rory let out a laugh, "Anything else?"

Logan went on to retell the story of Mike going to talk to Holmes. Throughout Logan's entire narration, Rory remained silent. Finally, when he finished, she asked, "So they all know?"

"It sounds like it," Logan said with a nod.

"Well, I guess it was going to come out eventually," Rory said calmly.

"Really?" Logan asked, knowing she was trying to hide her true reaction.

Looking at Logan, she couldn't lie, shaking her head she said, "No."

"It'll be okay Rory," Logan said softly, wanting to comfort her.

"How will it be okay Logan? I haven't worked there that long!"

"You've worked there four months," Logan pointed out.

"Exactly, that isn't that long at all."

"Not long enough for what?"

"For them to know that I belong there!"

"Why wouldn't they think you belong at the paper?"

"You!" she yelled.

"Me?"

"It ruins the whole point of me working under a penname!"

"Which was?" Logan asked. He knew the answer, but knew this was something she needed to get out.

"So they wouldn't think I got the job because of you."

"But they were going to find out eventually," Logan reminded her.

"Yes, but not til later! They weren't supposed to find out until they knew I was good at this. Until they knew I was good enough without you," Rory kept rambling even as she started crying.

"Which we both already knew," Logan offered trying to ease her worry.

"But not them!"

"Why do you care what they think?"

"I work with them everyday Logan."

"I know Ace," Logan said soothingly.

"I want my coworkers to think I belong," Rory confessed.

"Okay, so continue to prove that you know what you're doing. If they see you working, they can't doubt your talent."

"Maybe."

"What else Ace?" Logan pushed.

"I don't want to hear the whispers at work."

"Whispers?" Logan asked confused.

"About you, about us. People who don't know anything about us speculating about our relationship."

"Ignore them," Logan supplied simply.

"I have to work with them. What about when we have to work on an assignment together?" Rory asked, the tears spilling out over her eyes once again.

Logan hugged her, letting her cry and said, "It'll be okay."

"How?" Rory asked, still crying.

"I'll make sure it's okay," Logan promised.

Rory just nodded into his chest, knowing he was right, but was still frustrated by the situation. It wasn't much later that Logan noticed she was asleep.

--

A few hours later, Rory woke up for the second time that day. This time she was on the couch, her head still resting on Logan's chest. She shifted slightly to see Logan awake and watching her.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hi, feeling better?"

Rory nodded and sat up. She opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped.

"You need water," Logan exclaimed and went to the kitchen and came back with water.

Rory took a few sips to appease him and then asked, "You're all about the water these days."

"Just want to make sure you're okay. You need to relax and rest," Logan chided.

"Logan, if I sit here doing nothing, I'll be bored out of my mind," Rory whined.

"Fine, what do you want to do?" Logan asked. Seeing the glint on her face, he quickly added, "No work."

Pouting, Rory soon switched gears and climbed onto Logan's lap and gave him a kiss. Silently cursing the bolder side he created in her, he said, "Or that."

"Please," Rory whispered in his ear.

"Rory, the doctor said you needed to rest."

"It's fine Logan," she reassured.

"No, you don't need to be wasting any energy."

"Are you sure it takes much energy?" she asked with a wicked grin.

"Yes!" Logan said firmly, then asked, "who told?"

"Finn offered me his services," Rory said truthfully.

"I'll kill him!"

"Aww, don't kill him," Rory pleaded.

"Fine. So my dad called about something else as well."

"What was that?" Rory asked.

"Wanted to know if we would have dinner with him Thursday night."

"For what?"

"Apparently to spend time together, we're going to be the Cleavers now."

"Logan, he's trying to change things."

"I know, and I appreciate that, but really if he changes too much, I'll get creeped out."

Rory laughed, "Fair enough."

Rory stayed on the couch with Logan watching another movie. Logan eventually got up to find some dinner, and the two talked while he cooked. After dinner, Rory read in bed for a while before falling asleep early, still tired from the day before.

For Logan's part, he looked over some paperwork for the office he had ignored during the day while Rory read and for a while after she had fallen asleep. When he glanced at the clock and saw it was almost midnight, he decided he should get some sleep as well. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed, and just like the night before, checked Rory over before letting himself fall asleep.

--

Rory woke up the next morning, and after drinking the glass of juice and eating the bagel Logan gave her, she headed out for work.

Rory walked into the _Observer_, nervous for the first time since the day she started. She was getting in earlier than usual, hoping to get settled in at her desk before everyone arrived. She stepped off the elevator and saw an Entertainment reporter was already in, as was Alison, the secretary Bri sent to get Mike the day before, who gave her a once over and muttered, "Why would he marry _you_?"

Ignoring her, and taking a determined breath, Rory kept walking and set her purse down. Sitting in front of her computer, she started going through her email. A little after 9:00, Bri arrived and the two talked briefly, Bri telling her that she was here, but would be downstairs for a while developing the pictures from yesterday before letting Rory return to her work.

She worked for over an hour before deciding she needed coffee and went to fill her mug, happy to finally be out of Logan's sight so she could actually drink it. On her walk back, she heard someone say, "No wonder she got a job fresh out of school." Rory just kept moving back to her desk, but could still hear the conversation.

"Well, you would too if you were sleeping with the boss."

"If it's even true."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"It just doesn't add up, someone needs to just ask her."

"Sue, you go," someone suggested.

"Why me?"

"You've talked to her the more than anyone else."

"No, Bri has," Sue shot back.

"That doesn't count, just ask."

"Fine," Sue said giving in.

Rory saw Sue approach her desk with some others close behind to listen in. When she got there, she gave an awkward, "Hi."

"Hi," Rory replied skeptically.

"Are you really his fiancé?" Sue asked.

Rory was trying to decide how she was going to explain, when someone else cut in, "Why did you lie about who you were, _Lorelai_?"

This was followed by more silence. Rory saw more people start to gather around her desk to hear the conversation. She still hadn't answered either question when she heard another voice cut in.

"You can't be embarrassed, he's gorgeous and rich," Alison said snidely. This seemed to spur an onslaught of questions and speculations all wrapped into one.

"Or did you not want us to know you only got the job because of him."

"Are you even really his fiancé?"

"Maybe you're just sleeping you're way to the top."

"Yeah, didn't you have a boyfriend with some M name?"

"Does he have a girlfriend on the side too?"

"You don't even have a ring, we all know Huntzberger could afford a nice rock, or maybe you're just not worth it," the other secretary cut in.

Rory couldn't believe everything they were asking and saying to her. She knew she was about to break and hurriedly gathered her things before rushing out of the office.

Once outside, the tears began to fall. She hailed a cab and asked to go to the _Times_. She was walking towards Logan's office when she heard, "Rory?"

Rory looked up and saw a concerned look on Cassandra's face who then asked, "Are you okay?"

Trying to wipe away the tears, but failing, Rory answered, "Where's Logan?"

"He was spending time working with some of the writers today, forth floor: business, local, and world news are there. I'm not sure which department he's with," Cassandra explained and held out a tissue box.

Rory took one and offered, "Thanks," before heading back towards the elevator.

Rory walked out of the elevator onto the forth floor and was met with the familiar bustle of a newsroom. She loved working at the _Observer_, but she sometimes missed the higher pace of a daily paper. She looked around the room and saw him talking to a small group of reporters gathered around a desk.

Trying to compose herself, she walked towards to the group and stood at the back for a minute watching him work. It was very seldom that she saw this side of him, and she had to admit she liked it.

He was still talking when he noticed her, "Ace?"

"Hi Logan," she said with a cracking voice. Logan seemed to realize how hard she must have been crying so he asked, "What's wrong?" while simultaneously standing up and opening his arms for her.

Rory almost lunged for him, happy when Logan wrapped his arms around her and calmly asked, "What happened?"

"Sue came and asked if I was really your fiancé, but before I could answer, they all started asking questions. You were right, I should have asked you to come with me, I didn't know what to say," Rory confessed while continuing to cry.

Logan kissed her head and offered, "I think you just need to think about what you want to say, but if you want me to come, I will."

Rory just nodded, knowing that they had talked about this the day before. She had just been overwhelmed by everything they said. She knew she could do it on her own, but she had to admit having Logan with her would be nice. However, before she could get too happy, Logan said, "But I can't go today," making her face fall in realization that she would have to return to the office alone, but was happy when Logan added, "How about tomorrow?"

"I have to work on my article," Rory sighed, knowing she needed to get her work done.

"Write from home," Logan suggested.

"I don't have any of my notes or files."

"Call Bri, I bet she'd drop them off for you."

"Yeah," Rory agreed. Then looking around the room and stepping back from him, she added, "I'm sorry, I interrupted your work."

Logan smiled, knowing she was calm for the moment, "We were just talking about a series we're putting out on the upcoming elections."

"Really?" Rory said, "We're putting a few pieces together as well; I had an interview with one of the New York members of the House of Representatives on Monday."

"You write for another paper?" one of the writers asked, a bit more hesitant about her presence now.

Rory nodded, "I'm a city writer over at the _Observer_."

"What's your name?" The older woman asked, before explaining, "I like to read the competition, know what my staff is up against."

"My articles are under Ella Danes," Rory offered.

The man looked surprised before commenting, "I thought you'd be older."

"Why?" Rory asked confused.

"They're good, not characteristic of new writers. How old are you?"

"23," Rory answered simply.

Glancing at Logan, the woman asked, "Why aren't you writing here?"

Taking that as his cue to make introductions, he said, "Heather, this is my fiancé Rory Gilmore. Rory this is Heather, City Editor here at the _Times_, and this is Dylan and Carol, writers."

Rory exchanged quick hand shakes with them when Carol asked, "I thought you said your name was Ella?"

Rory gave a strained smile, "No, just the name I write under, and, well, went by at work as well."

"Any reason in particular?"

Rory just pointed to Logan, trying to find the words for the second time that day.

Luckily, Heather helped her out and said, "Don't want to be known as the boss's wife?"

Rory nodded, happy she seemed to understand. Logan knew he needed to talk to Rory so said, "I think we're good for now. Find me if you need anything else." He led Rory down to his office.

"Why don't you stay here?"

"Logan, I need to do work."

"I know, just work here instead of at home."

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't want you alone for a long time, you're still recovering. I'm not sure I should have let you go to work, I knew it'd be a stressful situation."

"I was going to have to go back eventually."

"Please just work here."

"I still need my stuff," Rory pointed out.

"Well, we need to go grab lunch anyways, why don't you call Bri and ask her to meet us with your things."

Rory nodded, "I can do that."

Rory called Bri and planned to meet up for lunch. Until then, she sat at Logan's desk and did some research on the computer. Logan went about his morning, and the two went to lunch together. Rory got all of her files and notes from Bri and spent the afternoon working in Logan's office with him spending most of his time there, but getting called out a few times by editors. They finally called it a day shortly after five and headed home, picking up take out on the way, and spent the rest of the night relaxing around the apartment, mentally preparing for the day ahead.

--

The next morning, the plan was for Rory to come into work around 10:00, at which time she would meet Logan. Rory didn't mind sleeping in, but at the same time wanted this to be over with. Walking in a few minutes before ten, Rory was directed to a larger meeting room where she was met by the surprising sight of Mitchum Huntzberger and the city staff. Glancing at him confused, she looked around and finally noticed Logan was there as well, seated off to the side.

"Hi," Rory said, nervously.

Logan just nodded to his father, who began. "For anyone who may not know, I'm Mitchum Huntzberger. Before we move on to why we are all here, I would like to say a few words on professionalism. This is a standard I expect all of my employees to adhere to. This includes everything from how you carry yourself in an interview to leaving any personal issues at the door. I expect you all to behave in a manner that reflects well on yourself, this paper, and my company."

Mitchum waited a few moments to let the gravity of his words sink in, finally breaking the silence by saying, "Miss Gilmore, the floor is yours."

Rory slowly walked to the front of the room, catching a stiff, but what she assumed was meant as an encouraging, nod from Mitchum and a smile from Logan.

"Good morning," she greeted awkwardly. "I'm Rory Gilmore, well Lorelai, but everyone calls me Rory because my mom named me after herself. The Lorelai you heard Bri call on Monday was my mom. I am engaged to Logan Huntzberger," Rory stated quietly, but lifted her hand slightly to reveal her engagement ring, which she was unconsciously fingering when she mentioned the last part. Taking another breath she continued, "Mac, the boyfriend I mentioned, is just a nickname my mom gave to Logan. I applied for this job, and others, under the name Ella Danes because I didn't want to get hired because of who my fiancé is, and I didn't want people to think I did. I talked to Mitchum about setting this up, and once I decided to accept the position here, Charles Holmes was also informed of my true identity." Rory seemed to think if there was anything else she wanted to say, coming up with nothing she said, "Thank you," and went back to her seat.

Logan was listening to Rory talk. But since he had known most of what she was going to say, he kept a large part of his focus on how everyone in the room reacted. Most people just looked on in disbelief and shock, with a few girls looking jealous. Mike looked appalled when Rory said Charles had known, and Logan knew Mike must have been thinking about the conversation he had with the man the day before. Seeing the nervous look on their faces, Logan figured it best to say a few more words.

"I want to be very clear about what I am about to say. First off, as of now, my relationship with Rory is off limits. She has the right to tell you anything she wants, but it is not your place to ask nor does she have to answer those who chose to ask regardless. Second, Rory is not here to relay messages to me or get anyone favors. While at work, she is a staff writer for Huntzberger Media, and I am her boss. I expect Rory to be treated in the same manner she was before, as her personal relationship with me has no bearing on her ability to write. Before I let you all go, I would like to remind you that any reports of nonprofessional behavior will be taken very seriously. Thank you."

With Logan's closing, people began making their way out of the conference room. Rory, not wanting to give any reason that she was being treated differently, went to leave with the group from the room. As she was leaving, she heard Logan call, "Ace, hold on."

Rory turned, and he gestured for her to stay. She hung back and finally said, "Thank you Mitchum, but you didn't need to come."

Mitchum gave a faint smile, "I wanted to make sure this was handled correctly, but we can talk more later; right now, I need to head out for my meeting across town. See you at dinner?"

Rory nodded while Logan said, "Yeah Dad. Thanks." With that, Mitchum left the room.

"Why'd he come?" Rory asked.

"He called me yesterday, and I told him I was coming in with you to talk to the staff. He said we should meet this morning to discuss how to handle it. That's who I had to meet this morning. We talked about this and about the New York papers in general, but he insisted on coming. Something about showing them that this was serious, and his presence would make that clear."

Rory nodded, it made sense. "Thank you."

"Anytime Ace."

"So what did you want, I really want to get out there before they start thinking we're up to something in here."

"You okay?" he asked, he knew that despite how much she tried to mentally prepare herself to say all of that, actually saying it was quite different.

"I am, but I also know there will be more fallout."

"I was serious about the professionalism, not just in regards to you, but I will not tolerate that kind of behavior."

"I know, I was thinking more about the aura around the office."

"It won't stay that way forever. They'll eventually learn to think of you as who you were before they found out the truth," Logan comforted.

"So are you headed out now as well?"

"Actually, no."

"No?"

"I was thinking I'd stay here."

"Why? Logan, it'll be fine."

"I just thought it would make your day easier."

"You can't come here everyday," Rory pointed out.

"I know," Logan agreed.

"What would you do, I'm sure you have work to do," Rory wasn't sure if she wanted him to stay. But, she knew that if he left they'd ask more questions, and she really just needed to get her articles done before leaving for the weekend since she was taking the next day off.

"I brought my laptop," Logan said pointing to the corner, "and have some work I need to do there, then after that, I can talk to Holmes and a few other editors. It really depends on how my work goes."

Rory nodded, gave him a quick kiss, and offered, "Thank you."

He smiled, but as she left, said, "Leave the door open," and took out his computer to work.

--

Rory walked out of the room and over to her desk. As she went, she noticed people glance back towards the meeting room to see Logan still there and then back to her. She knew they would ask eventually, but for the time being, was happy she could just work.

Rory continued to work, skipping her lunch, hoping she could get done early. She looked up at Logan a few times and every time saw he was still working. The only person who came over and talked to her was Bri, but that was only to let her know she was there if she needed anything. Soon, Rory had finished her articles and placed them on Mike's desk and made her way over to where Logan was still working. Seeing her, he finished up a few last minute things before the couple headed out to meet Mitchum for dinner.

--

Rory and Logan walked into an upscale restaurant just after 5:30. Logan gave his name, and they were immediately escorted to their table, where Mitchum was already seated.

"Rory, Logan," Mitchum greeted then turned to Rory and asked, "How was the rest of your day?"

"Good, thank you again for coming today."

"Of course, we will be family soon right," Mitchum said, Rory wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question.

"We will," Rory affirmed.

"So Rory, how are you feeling?" Mitchum asked.

"Good, Logan's been taking care of me. Took away my coffee and everything," she teased.

"It was for your own good Ace, stop complaining," Logan replied, but you could hear the playful tone.

"That has yet to be proven," she shot back.

"Even your mom agreed with me."

"She's been brainwashed."

Seeing that this could continue for a while, Mitchum asked, "So Rory, how are your articles coming this week for Sunday's edition?"

"Done and on Mike's desk," Rory answered.

"Really?"

"Well, since I am taking tomorrow off, they needed to be done before I left today."

"Why'd you take tomorrow off?"

"Going shopping with Steph and Bri for the gala."

"That requires a full day?"

"It's Bri's first society event so Steph and I told her we'd help her get ready and pick a dress."

Mitchum nodded then asked, "How do you know her?"

"She's a good friend of mine: She's a photographer at the _Observer_ too."

"So she knew who you were before today?"

Rory nodded and answered, "She's known since early July."

"Where was she in the meeting today?"

"In the back, shorter with long, curly red hair."

"Okay," Mitchum said after going through a mental picture of the people who had been in the room, then asked, "Who's she going with?"

"Finn," Logan answered.

"Should have guessed," Mitchum sighed.

"Why's that?" Logan asked surprised, at this father's declaration.

"She's a redhead, Finn has always liked redheads," Mitchum explained.

"I know that, I'm just surprised you know that," Logan admitted.

"I've gotten complaints from some of our house staff about an Australian shamelessly hitting on them over the years. As far as I heard, it was always playful, which is why I never said anything, but it made some of them uncomfortable. Well, I didn't think about there being any pattern to it because a lot of them were younger, but then one day Mrs. Taylor came to talk about it."

"She was like 60," Logan exclaimed.

"Oh, ew!" Rory said with a look of disgust.

"I know, but apparently Finn playful flirted with her, when she filed her complaint she said he kept going on and on about her hair. After that, I looked back at who else had said something and saw the common factor."

Logan had to laugh, "Well Finn is dating Bri, has been for just over two months, and tomorrow she gets her first glimpse at society."

"Keep her away from Shira and her group," Mitchum said to Rory.

Rory nodded and offered, "I think she'll be with Finn or me most of the evening, and I tend to stay away from them as well."

Mitchum smiled, "I know you will, just felt like I should give a reminder. But, I hear you can't avoid her for too long, something about a wedding planning session on Saturday."

"You heard correctly," Rory supplied, displeasure evident in her voice.

"What are you planning this time?"

"Grandma insisted that she, mom, and Shira go dress shopping together, so they don't clash. She said I needed to go because it's my wedding, and before hand, we are organizing the guest list and planning some other things that 'we don't want to have forgotten.'"

"I'll remind Shira what behavior is expected, both for tomorrow night and Saturday."

"Thanks," Rory said truthfully.

"So the meeting on Saturday starts at 10:00 at brunch from what I understand," Mitchum asked.

"That's the plan," Logan replied.

"I was thinking it would be nice for us guys to play a round of golf while the girls did their shopping."

"Have you talked to Richard or Chris?" Logan asked.

"I was going to call them after I talked with you. So how does golf sound?"

Logan thought for a moment. Besides sitting around somewhere in Hartford to wait for Rory to be done at the dress store, he didn't have anything else to do Saturday, "Sure Dad, golf sounds good."

"I'll make some calls after dinner."

"Have you read any good books lately?" Rory asked, she didn't know much about Mitchum except he liked to read.

"I finally broke down and read _The Da Vinci Code_," Mitchum admitted.

"How is that possible?" Rory asked surprised.

"I thought if I waited the hype would die down," Mitchum defended.

"But it didn't," Rory supplied.

"No, it didn't."

"Did you like it?" Logan asked.

"I thought it was well thought out."

"And?"

"I think that whether or not you believe what it is based on, it is a good book that really makes you think about your beliefs. However, too many people take it as fact rather than a fictitious story based on some facts and rooted around actual objects. They are confusing the two."

"I would agree," Rory offered.

"Me too, but did you like it?" Logan asked.

"It was entertaining," Mitchum finally relented.

"Have you read _Harry Potter_?" Rory asked, getting excited now that the conversation had turned to books.

"Why would I read _Harry Potter_?"

"They're good, you should."

"They're children's books."

"They have a large adult following," Rory defended.

"I finally broke down and read them, I have to admit they were better than I thought they'd be," Logan confessed, joining the conversation.

"Really?" Mitchum asked skeptically.

"Parts of the plot are predictable: I mean it's not some revolutionary plot. But, they are well planned and have a lot more detail to them than the movies."

"Can't say I've seen the movies either."

"The books are better," Rory reassured.

"Aren't they always?"

Logan, Rory, and Mitchum continued talking throughout dinner, only running into a few awkward pauses, ending the meal as both men watched in amazement as Rory had a cup of chocolate moose while drinking an espresso. Once the bill which Mitchum insisted on picking up was paid, the couple headed home.

--

_**A/N: Just wanted to let you know that you can expect a short delay on chapter 29. This weekend, I'm heading down to Columbus for the Michigan/OSU game (to feed my football addiction), GO BLUE! Then, Christi is heading home for a week, while I have been drafted by my mother to help with a bunch of stuff to get ready for Thanksgiving. Basically, we're not really expecting much progress over the next week, but check the blog for any messages regarding the progress of the chapter. **_

_**As for this chapter, I hope you liked the initial reaction at the office, and I promise there is more to come. Please send reviews with any feedback you have, we really do love to know what you're all thinking of the fic!**_


	29. One Hundred Forks

_**A/N: Thank you to all the reviewers. I know a lot of people are wondering about what else will happen with Rory at work, and I promise there will be more going on, just please be patient.**_

_**Now, enjoy the chapter!**_

--

On Friday morning, Rory was getting ready to meet Steph and Bri to go dress shopping when there was a knock at the door. She opened it to reveal Finn.

"Hey," she greeted, letting him in the door.

"Hi Love," he replied.

"Why'd you knock?" Rory asked confused.

"It's rude just to walk into someone's home."

"Finn, you've always just knocked and walked into our apartment before we could answer," Rory pointed out.

"Not true, I only did that when I thought you wouldn't be too busy."

"Which is now, so what changed?"

"I didn't know if you were home," Finn replied.

"Then the door would have been locked," Rory said without a thought.

Finn mumbled something that Rory couldn't understand.

"What?" Rory asked, not catching any of what he said.

"I came over last week to see if Logan wanted to have a drink before dinner."

"I don't remember that."

"Well, when I came in you were busy so I left."

"Doing what?" Rory asked confused, "Work? You could have interrupted me."

"Logan," Finn blurted out.

"Logan was busy?"

"That's what you were doing...Logan," Finn said quickly, remembering when he walked into their apartment to see a bra fly and hit the floor and Logan on top of Rory on the couch as he began sucking on her breast, already having entered her.

"Oh," Rory said, now blushing, as she remembered some of the rendezvous she and Logan had in the last few weeks.

"I think I'm going to knock from now on."

"So why aren't you at work?" Rory asked as she glanced at the clock, seeing it was a quarter after nine and knowing she needed to leave soon to meet Steph and Bri.

"I'm on my way there now, but I wanted to talk to you before I left. Now, I know Steph might be more comfortable with this, but frankly, I trust you more."

"With what?" Rory asked, a little wary.

Finn didn't say anything, but held out his Black Card.

"Thanks Finn, but I already have Logan's," Rory teased, but didn't move to take the card.

Finn rolled his eyes, "Not for you, for Bri."

"You know this will make her very uncomfortable right?"

"Yes, and I know you always feel weird about it, but like I said, I don't trust Steph."

"She does like to shop."

"I know," Finn deadpanned.

"How am I supposed to get Bri to accept this?"

"She can't afford it Rory, and I don't want her to try to."

"You know not every society acceptable dress needs to cost a small fortune," Rory pointed out.

"I know you've gotten away with it before, but they know you. She isn't society in any way and is coming there with me. You know they are going to be looking to exploit any flaw, I need you and Steph to make sure she has none."

Rory nodded in understanding, "Is that it?"

Finn shook his head, "She needs jewelry."

"There is no way I can convince her to buy that. A dress is going to be hard enough."

Ignoring her small rant, Finn asked, "Will you call me and tell me what the dress looks like?"

"What?" Rory asked, not really paying attention to what Finn was saying.

"I'm going to buy it for her: I just need to know what she's wearing so it will match." Seeing Rory's nod, Finn suggested, "But try and get her to buy a dress that matches with green."

"Green? Finn, emeralds? No!" Rory exclaimed. Genuine emeralds, although not always eye popping as diamonds, were just as rare and almost as expensive.

"They'd look amazing on her," Finn argued.

"I'll try, but I make no promises," Rory offered.

"One last thing…" Finn began. At Rory's look, he just kept talking, "Talk to her so she knows what to expect. I've tried, but I think she's convinced I'm exaggerating."

"I'll make sure she's prepared," Rory said, nodding to reaffirm the promise.

"Thank you Rory," Finn said, finally looking relived and giving her a quick hug before heading out the door.

--

Rory walked up to the café where the girls were meeting and saw she was the first to arrive. Soon, Bri and then finally, Steph came in and sat down to join her. After they finished their breakfast, Steph smiled and asked, "Where are we starting?"

"Don't ask me, but remember, I don't have that much to spend."

"About that," Rory started, not sure how to continue.

"I'm not letting you pay for anything," Bri said firmly.

"What about Finn?" Rory questioned.

"What about him, he's not here."

Rory pulled Finn's credit card out of her purse, "He gave this to me to pay for what you need to buy today."

"I'm not spending his money," Bri replied.

"Why not? He has enough to spare," Steph said casually.

"I can buy my own dress, how much can one be?"

Steph knew how much this bothered Rory at first so just said, "Enough."

"How much?" Bri asked again.

"For this event? Probably three to five thousand," Rory told her.

"For a dress?!" Bri exclaimed.

"Yeah," said Steph.

"He should save his money," Bri said seriously.

"It won't make a dent," Steph brushed off.

"Bri, Finn just wants you to fit in," Rory stated trying to convince Bri to let Finn pay, "people at these things can be harsh enough as it is, you don't want to give them a reason to criticize you."

"How bad can they be?" Bri asked.

"I'll make you a deal, agree to let Finn pay because we need to get going, and we'll tell you everything you want to know about society."

Bri reluctantly nodded. Seeing this, Steph smiled and said, "Again I ask, where to?"

"There are a lot of stores on Fifth Avenue, we should head there," Rory suggested.

--

The girls were entering the first store when Bri asked, "So any type of dress I'm looking for in particular?"

"Something elegant, but sexy," Steph answered.

"Nothing too revealing. It needs to be floor length and fitted, but not unnecessarily tight," Rory added.

"That would fall into the category of slutty, trust me, you don't want to be associated with them," Steph informed her.

"Who?" Bri asked confused, thinking of some of the sluttier girls she knew in high school and didn't picture anyone from society dressing like that.

"The slutty society girls," Steph said like it should be obvious.

"Also known as the girls who throw themselves at any guy with a nice trust fund. So, as a warning, don't listen to anything they say. They will more than likely try to upset you and doubt Finn."

"Which there is no reason to, Finn really likes you," Steph added quickly.

"Why would they do that?"

"They want Finn. And before you ask, they want Logan and Colin too, but we've been with them long enough that they're starting to accept that their schemes to break us up won't work."

"Which, unfortunately for you, means they've set their sights on Finn even more," Steph explained, then asked, "what do you think about this dress?"

Rory and Bri looked at it then to Steph before Rory answered, "You should try it on, but keep looking as well."

Steph nodded and kept the dress in her hand. Rory found a dress and held it up to Bri, but shook her head and put it back.

"So why is this the first event I have to go to?"

"A lot are in Hartford, so we get out of them. Plus, some are only for the older members of society, you know the over 40 crowd," Steph answered.

"So you couldn't get out of this one?"

"We didn't even try," Rory answered.

"Why not, you talk about them like they are torture?" Bri asked confused.

"Because one, it would never work, and two, this is one of the biggest events of the year."

"Finn said it was for St. Jude's," Bri said, remembering talking to Finn briefly about the event.

"He's right: It is the marquee event for Hartford Society. The tickets for the event are the most expensive ones of the year, and yet, they are in the highest demand.

"How much are they?" Bri asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"A thousand a ticket," Steph said quickly.

"Oh," Bri let out quietly, now more nervous about the evening.

"I know you're nervous," Rory sympathized, "but Finn bringing you really is a good thing."

"Good for whom?"

"You and Finn. You'll be there as his girlfriend. By the end of the night, everyone will know Finn is taken," she explained.

"And since he is bringing you to this for your first event, they'll know it's very serious."

"Serious?" Bri asked, she knew things were going well, but wasn't sure what she meant by this.

"Well isn't it?" Steph asked confused.

"I mean we're exclusively dating, yes," Bri answered, not sure what else to say and so picked up a dress and asked, "What about this?"

Steph and Rory nodded. "Good choice," Steph offered.

"You think Finn would like it?" Bri asked.

"I'm sure he will like anything you get, but yes, he'd like that," Rory offered.

They were now towards the back of store near the dressing rooms and Steph was already carrying three dresses so asked, "Find anything Rory?"

Rory shook her head to which Steph answered, "Well then you can give us your opinion on what we try on."

Steph came out first and Rory immediately said no. Bri cam out in her dress, and after some consideration, they decided it would work, but didn't like it enough to buy it before they looked at more stores. Steph's second dressed was okay, but when she appeared in the last one Rory just smiled while Bri nodded. A few minutes later, Steph came back out and the group headed towards the register.

"So I'm all set, where to next?" Steph said happily as they left the store. Walking down the street, Rory spotted a store and proclaimed, "Here!"

Following Rory into the store, they were once again greeted and began their search. Rory found two dresses to try on. She hadn't been sure at first, but after some words of encouragement from them, well mostly Steph, she decided to buy a light pink dress.

After Rory paid, they walked into the store next door, but left almost immediately. The next shop however, had a dress that looked like it would be great, and Bri was happy when it looked just as good on. After getting the approval of both Steph and Rory, she made her way out of the dressing room area and towards the register.

She had been so excited to finally find a dress that she almost chocked when the sales clerk said, "Your total comes to three thousand six hundred seventy two dollars."

Bri was so shocked that she couldn't even begin to protest when Rory silently handed Finn's card over to pay.

--

Now that they had each found a dress and had some time to spare before their appointments, Rory asked if they could stop by _Vera Wang's_.

"Is your dress ready?" Steph asked, hoping she would get a peak.

"Not exactly, but when they called wanting me to come by, I said I would stop in today."

"For what?" Bri asked, now curious.

"Well, I came down about a month ago to see the drawings she did with the changes I requested, but when I got here she had actually done two."

"What were they?"

"The first, was the design we had talked about, based off the dress I tried on. The second took the ideas I wanted but was a little more unique, she said she thought I might like it."

"And you did?" Steph said, although she already knew the answer.

"Yes," Rory confirmed as they walked into the store and told the woman who greeted them that she was there to check on a custom dress being made. They were lead into the back and were soon joined by Vera herself.

"Miss Gilmore, how are you?" she said with a smile.

"Wonderful and you?"

"I am well. Now, let me show you what I've done." Vera walked them over to an office and turned the computer so they could all see.

"That is amazing," Steph said honestly.

"Thank you," Vera said, but then continued, "This is a three dimensional rendering of the dress, if there is anything you don't like, I need to know now."

Rory studies the picture from various angles, zooming in and out before shaking her head, "I love the dress," then turned to Bri and Steph and asked, "Is there anything you see?"

"It's your dress, it only matters if you like it," Bri answered.

"But if I asked what you thought?" Rory asked, just wanting some confirmation.

Steph laughed, "I'm jealous."

Rory nodded, "I think we're all set on that."

"Wonderful, now I also had the cut of the dress made in some very basic material based on the measurements we took earlier. It should let you know the way it fits to make sure you like it and also lets me see if any sizing adjustments need to be made."

Vera went and retrieved the dress and sent Rory to the dressing room. She emerged a few minutes later.

"Do you like the cut of the dress? It's very similar to the one you tried on originally, except for the bodice line."

"I like it though," Rory said, looking herself over in the mirror.

"Okay then, stand still while I check over the fitting."

The girls stood in relative silence as some pins were added and new measurements taken. Soon, the three were out the door and headed to a salon where they had made appointments to have their hair and make up done before heading home to finish getting ready. Normally, Rory and Steph would do their own hair and make up, not having time to go to the salon, but thought it would be fun to do as a group, especially given the event they were going to.

--

Bri was sitting on the couch fidgeting while occasionally glancing at her daughter who was now sleeping on the floor, having been ready for almost ten minutes now. It wasn't that Finn was running late, but now that she was ready, she was thinking more and more about tonight. The appearance of Finn dressed in a tux interrupted her thoughts. She had heard her sister open the door, but it didn't register in her mind that it was likely Finn. Seeing him, she stood up as he entered and gave him a quick kiss.

Finn took a moment to enjoy her appearance. Bri was clad in an emerald green strapless dress that had a wrapped look to the upper portion before falling to the ground. Her hair was down and wavy, all of this caused him to smile and say, "You look gorgeous Doll, almost perfect," as a smirk came across his lips.

"Almost?" Bri asked looking down at her dress, wondering what was wrong.

"Yes, almost," Finn repeated. The next thing Bri knew, Finn was standing behind her, and she felt something cold hit her skin. Glancing down, she saw a gold heart pendant with an emerald in the center hanging from a thin gold chain. She was trying to think what she should say when Finn's hand opened in front of her to reveal matching earrings.

"Finn…" Bri started, but stopped still not sure what else she should say.

"You don't like them?" Finn asked, confused by her lack of response.

"Finn, they're beautiful, but they're too much. I can't accept them."

"Yes, you can," Finn argued.

"I can't wear these," Bri said again, moving to take off the necklace.

Finn reached out and stopped her and softly said, "But they match your dress."

"How did that happen?" Bri asked, now seeing they went perfectly with her dress. Finn looked away, but didn't answer. Suddenly, she asked, "Rory or Steph?"

"I'm not telling!" Finn swore, the turned serious again, "Bri, you should wear them. I want you to have them, but regardless, you need to wear them tonight. You're expected to wear jewelry. Jewelry that matches your gown is even better."

"Matches?"

"Not literally, but it's the idea that you have different jewelry to match each outfit, meaning you're more wealthy."

"That doesn't mean I need to keep them," Bri pointed out, knowing she would end up wearing them now.

"No, that is because I want you to have them, a gift," Finn said with a nod and then took a step back and smiled. "Now you look perfect Doll," he complimented and gave her a kiss.

"We're not done discussing this."

Finn laughed, "We'll see, but for now we need to head down to the limo or we're going to be late."

Bri walked over to Maddy, kissed her sleeping daughter, and then let Finn escort her down to the limo.

--

The three couples were now all sitting in the limo for the ride to Hartford. Just after they pulled out, Finn started pouring glasses of wine for everyone.

"Starting already?" Bri asked surprised.

"Yes," Finn, Rory, and Steph answered simultaneously.

Seeing her confusion, Colin offered, "It's better to deal with these people after you've had a drink."

"Everyone's warned me."

"You sound skeptical."

"Not really, but part of me is convinced you're all exaggerating."

"Nope," Colin assured her.

"Just don't take anything they say too seriously," Rory offered.

"And know that we all like you. We're your friends so don't feel like you can't come find one of us to tell off someone for you. Trust me, we're quite an intimidating group," added Steph.

"There are going to be girls who tell you that we aren't really your friends just to try to come between us – more specifically you and Finn. Whatever they say, don't believe them," Rory added to Steph's comment knowing Bri would be blindsided without a specific warning.

"Ignore anything my mother or her group says to you," Logan said.

"And I'm sorry if my dad hits on you," Colin said in a serious tone, but still managing to lighten up the mood.

This last comment finally made Bri look up in surprise and Finn explained, "He likes to marry, and the bride gets younger and younger every time."

"Oh," Bri said not sure how else she should respond.

The limo was quiet until Bri asked, "Is there anything I should remember to do?"

"Stand and sit with good posture, tall and with your shoulders back," Steph recited.

"No matter what anyone says or how bored you are, always smile politely, but most of all never let them know you are nervous or intimated," Logan said, knowing what some people there were capable of.

"They like to set a very formal table, which means a hundred different forks," Rory said seriously.

"Not one hundred forks Ace, only four. Stop exaggerating," Logan teased, having heard Rory's rant before.

"Four?" Bri asked confused. She knew the standard salad versus dinner fork, she wasn't sure what the other two would be.

"Well you have the standard Salad and dinner fork," Finn explained.

"Yeah, I got that far," Bri shot back.

"Then, there is a fish fork and seafood fork."

"Fish is seafood," Bri replied.

"Thank you!" Rory exclaimed.

Finn rolled his eyes, but continued his explanations, "Technically, but in this case the seafood fork is for a seafood appetizer like oysters or shrimp."

"It's the baby fork," Rory added with a smile.

"Oh," Bri said, now knowing what Finn was talking about.

"The fish fork is for and actual piece of fish, like salmon or swordfish. But, don't worry you still work from the outside in so it's not too hard to remember."

"Just watch Finn if you need to," Logan offered which got a smile from Bri.

"Beside that, there's a fish knife which is the only addition to the dinner knife and soup spoon," Colin said.

"Fish knife, got it," Bri said to herself.

"That's the silverware, all that's left to know are the glasses."

"Which are?" Bri asked, ready to make another mental list.

"Normally there are three. A water goblet, then the red wine and white wine glasses."

"How do you tell them apart?"

"It's hard to describe because the style of glasses can make them look different, but generally, the red wine glass is wider and the white narrower. The water goblet is the largest," Finn explained.

"But here's the nice part," Rory said, knowing Bri was getting overwhelmed, "they come to your table and pour the wine for you, and they know which glass is which."

Hearing that, Bri let out an auditable sigh. From there, the group continued talking lightly while having another drink when Rory randomly said, "Don't mention Maddy."

"What?" Bri asked, not following the random topic change.

"Tonight around society," Rory said seriously.

"I'm not going to pretend she doesn't exist," Bri said slightly angry.

"I know," Rory said, trying to soothe her friend, "I didn't say to lie. If they ask, which I doubt they will, tell them. I just wouldn't bring it up voluntarily."

"Why not?"

Logan looked at Rory and answered for her, "She was born out of wedlock."

Before Bri could say anything, Steph jumped in, "No one here cares about that, it's just something that would make them talk about you more. You're goal for the night should be to minimize that."

Finn leaned over and said, "It'll be fine Doll, but if something happens promise to tell me."

Bri nodded her head, and Finn kissed her head to tell her he got her reply then turned their focus to the group as they talked about past events. Then, they started going through all the excuses they had used when they were younger and how the biggest thing was to not repeat the same one too often.

--

The limo pulled up in front the country club since the event was being held in their Grand Ballroom. Someone opened the door allowing Logan to step out and offer a hand to Rory. This process was repeated by Finn and Bri then finally Colin and Steph. As they walked in, there were a few photographers covering the event who took some pictures. But since the event was being held on private property, the staff was able to keep the number to a minimum.

Once safely inside, the group found their seats. Rory would have to thank Nora from the DAR later. Normally, they sat you by family at these events, but Rory had called hoping to get the six of them at one table. To her delight, she succeeded.

After they found their seats, the couples split off to greet their respective families. It wasn't long before Rory spotted her grandmother coming towards her.

"Rory, Logan, how are you?" Emily greeted.

"Fine Grandma," Rory said giving her a brief hug.

"We're well Emily, how are you?" Logan said smoothly.

"I'm fine, thank you. Rory dear, you look absolutely lovely."

Looking down at her ensemble, Rory smiled, knowing she had received a similar reaction from Logan earlier in the evening. She was wearing a pale pink dress with the top half covered in a textured material, with thick straps and a v-neck. It wrapped around the waist before extending in a smooth material all the way to the ground. "Thank you Grandma."

"Now Rory, remember there are people here you need to greet, especially the women from the DAR. Since you no longer live in the Hartford area, it's important to make a good impression at these sorts of things."

"Of course," Rory smiled and nodded as her grandmother excused herself to greet some people then watched as she hurried off, probably looking for certain women from the DAR to catch up with. Logan decided he should find his parents, and spotting them across the ballroom, he gestured to Rory and led her across the room.

Finally reaching them, he smiled, "Mom, Dad," shaking his father's hand and kissing his mother's cheek.

"Mrs. Huntzberger, Mitchum," Rory said, her smile set firmly in place.

"How are you feeling?" Mitchum asked.

"Much better, I promise."

"Good," Mitchum said shortly.

"You were sick, what happened?" Shira asked, with her perfectly practiced false sincerity. "Did you catch a cold?"

Stepping in Mitchum said, "Rory was rushed to the hospital after fainting."

"What was wrong?" Shira asked trying to appear interested, but never stopped looking around the room to see who at the event she needed to impress.

"A combination of things, but mostly food poisoning and…" Logan began to explain.

Before he could even finish, Shira interrupted, "Oh, Francine Hayden just walked in, I need to go say hello."

"Well, I know Logan and I have some people we need to talk to," he said, sending a silent reminder to his wife about the behavior he expected from her.

After a moment to think over what she knew Mitchum wanted, Shira finally gave in and offered, "Rory, you should join me, I have known Francine for years. I can introduce you."

"Thank you for the offer, but I have some people I should find as well," Rory said, not wanting to have a confrontation with Francine nor spend more time with Shira.

"Francine is from a very respectable family Rory, it's important you talk to her."

"I'd rather not," Rory said firmly.

"Mom, just let her be," Logan said, knowing very well that Rory should steer clear of Francine.

"This is why you need someone who was raised in society, we can't have her ruining our name," Shira chided under her breath, but making sure she was still heard and walked off, hoping she made her point.

"Ace, you going to be okay? I need to talk some business," Logan pointed out, knowing he still needed to go with his father.

"I'm fine, come find me when you're done," Rory said truthfully.

"Of course," Logan replied before kissing the corner of her mouth and following his father.

As they walked, Mitchum spoke, "Logan, I know she's never going to be the typical society wife, but there are certain society standards she needs to follow."

"Okay…" Logan asked, not sure where this was leading.

"I didn't say anything before because I know it would have caused more of a scene."

"Be specific Dad, what is it that you think she's done wrong?"

"The Hayden's are wealthy, not quite as wealthy as us, but they also have an excellent reputation, one of the best."

"Dad," Logan said, now knowing what he was upset about.

"No, Logan meeting Francine and being polite is not asking too much."

"Trust me, Francine knows who Rory is, they've met before" Logan said, cutting to the point.

"How?" Mitchum asked, wondering what else there was to this story.

"Francine is Rory's paternal grandmother."

"What?"

"Her father is Chris Hayden, how did you not know that?"

"I think I've heard that mentioned, what does that have to do with Francine?"

"Chris is her son."

"I thought her son left the family years ago. I remember it being a big deal that he acted out and didn't follow in his father's footsteps."

"Well, I don't know how much he was around when Rory was a baby, but Lorelai left Hartford when Rory was one, and since then, he hasn't really been around much. I'd assume that was around the time he disappeared from society as well. Anyways, I know he missed almost all of her childhood, she only saw him every once in a while. Rory only began seeing him more during her junior year in college."

"So how often did she see Straub and Francine?"

"I'm not sure what it was like right after she's born, but the only time Rory met them was since she was a baby was when she was 16."

"Only time?" Mitchum asked confused.

"It wasn't good, and she hasn't spoken to them since. I don't know if she plans to," Logan said, simplifying the issue because they were about to join the group his father wanted him to talk too. He also didn't think everyone needed to know her family's business.

--

Finn and Bri walked around the party. Finn's parents weren't at the party, which meant they didn't have to find them upon entering the event. Instead, he had to meet and greet all the appropriate businessmen on behalf of his dad, which he had to say was much worse. Hearing old men drone on about the latest business deals and corporate scandal bored him to death.

--

"We should just find our parents and get it over with," Steph said as Colin tried to look busy.

"Fine, but when you get stuck talking to my father's current Barbie, remember I wanted to stay here."

"That's not funny. I am _not_ talking to her."

Rolling his eyes at Steph, he spotted her parents, and figuring they would be much easier to deal with, led her in that direction.

"Mom, Dad, how are you tonight?" Steph asked, announcing their arrival.

"We're well, Colin good to see you again," Theo Vanderbilt said, giving him a firm handshake. He turned to his daughter and saw she was wearing an almost princess like dress. It was a burgundy strapless dress, the top having a minor amount of stitching and beading then flaring out to the ground. Adding to the image were the diamond encrusted teardrop shaped loops, connecting to form a necklace and matching earrings. "You look wonderful sweetie," he said and kissed her cheek.

"Theo, Cynthia," Colin greeted, having known Steph's parents for many years.

Steph turned and gave a big smile before hugging her brother and his wife. "Alex, Lily, I didn't know you would be here!"

"Well, you know this is _the_ can't miss event of the year," Alex said in a teasing nature.

"Lily, how are you doing?" Colin asked, acknowledging the couple as well.

"Ready to get this one out of me," she said, pointing at her seven month pregnant belly.

Soon the group was joined by Colin's dad, who announced his presence by saying, "Son, were you going to avoid me all night?"

"No Father, we were heading to find you next."

"I'm here now," he said stiffly, then turned to the thirty something leggy brunette on his arm. "Caitlin, you remember my son Colin and his girlfriend Stephanie."

"Of course," she said with a huge smile.

"Andrew, Caitlin," Steph started.

Before she could finish, Caitlin interjected, "Mrs. McCrae."

"Right, Caitlin, how are you?" Steph asked. Steph knew Colin's stepmother wanted everyone to know whom she was married to, and while following her wishes would be more appropriate and fairly easy in this case, she had too much fun riling her up.

"Good, Andy knows just how to treat a girl," she said with a giggle. "Stephanie, you must tell me where you found your shoes, they're to die for."

"Is that a promise," Steph mumbled so only Colin could hear, making him stifle a laugh.

"You alright?" Alex asked, knowing Steph had said something.

"I'm fine."

The group talked for a few more minutes, before Cynthia pulled Theo away saying they needed to find some associates. Next, Andrew was pulling Colin to talk shop, leaving Steph, Alex, Lily, and Caitlin.

"Alex," Steph said, trying to get Caitlin to take the hint to leave, "is Ethan here tonight? I haven't seen him."

"No, he has a party for work tomorrow night and couldn't come today and get back to Nashville for tomorrow."

Caitlin, sensing she should be making herself scare to let the siblings catch up, finally excused herself, making a show of saying, "Well, I must find Shira Huntzberger, we have some girl chat to catch up on."

Steph waited until she was out of ear shot before letting out a huge breath, "Oh thank god!"

"Is she always like that?" Lily asked.

"The real question is, is she a step up or step down from the last wife," Steph joked. "So how is my little niece or nephew?"

"Doing good," Lily said, "but driving it's mother crazy. The baby's decided that 4a.m. is the perfect time to practice for soccer tryouts."

"Awwww. That's so cute. So soccer, huh?"

"We keep telling you, we're not finding out until the baby is born," Alex said, rolling his eyes at his sister's not to subtle attempt to get information.

"Why? I need to know what I should be buying."

"Buy gender neutral things Steph," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You want your child to be the next Pat?" she challenged.

"Pat?" Alex asked confused.

"He was a reoccurring character on SNL, he was sexually ambiguous, no one ever knew if it was a guy or girl."

Rolling his eyes he pointed out, "Rattles and car seats don't need to be gender specific."

"What about clothes and blankets? Do you want someone mistaking your _precious_ daughter as a boy?"

"Won't happen," he said firmly, then wanting to redirect her inquisition he asked, "Enough about me, how is my shacked up baby sister?"

"We're not shacked up!"

"You live together, and you're not married," he pointed out.

"But you say that like he's some guy I found wandering down the street,"

"Didn't you?"

"It was a sidewalk, and I was 10. I think we're long past strangers."

"He's so uptight, I'm surprised he is okay with it."

"He's practical," Steph said seriously.

"Living with you is practical? Dramatic, chaotic, loud, all words I would use to describe the many years we lived together, never practical."

"Yes, practical. Less time wasted driving when we want to have sex," she said, with a straight face.

Alex just glared at her and said, "I need a drink."

Watching him walk away, both girls started laughing. After remaining quiet while brother and sister talked, Lily said, "You're going to give him a heart attack one of these days."

Smiling, Steph asked, "What will happen if that little one is a girl?"

"Let's hope for a boy," Lily said, and Steph nodded.

--

Rory, Bri and Steph were standing in a group avoiding many of the other girls at the party. They were filling Bri in on the hierarchy of the people present.

"Okay, for the guys, it's basically based on what your company is worth, which is fairly easy to figure out," Steph began, gesturing to the groups of men scattered around the room.

"The women is where it gets more complicated," Rory added in.

At Bri's questioning look, Steph began, "At the top, you have the DAR women."

"DAR?" Bri asked, not familiar with the term.

"Daughter's of the American Revolution," Steph answered.

"A women's organization that is made up of the descendants of patriots from the Revolutionary War, those who aided in achieving American independence," Rory explained, methodically.

"So they're at the top?" Bri asked, wanting to clarify.

"Yes, but with them there is a hierarchy," Rory said, then continued, "Like whether or not you're eligible for membership from one or both of your parents and then from there looking at how pure your DAR heritage is."

Seeing Bri's confusion, Steph said, "It's similar to your nationality: If all your grandparents came to the US from France, you are 100percent French. But if one of your grandparents came from Poland, one from Russia, and two from France, you are only 50percent French."

"Okay…" Bri stated, understanding Steph's example but not seeing how it fit into the DAR.

Seeing that Bri was still confused, Steph continued, "Rory and I are have a higher standing in the DAR than say Honor because both of our parents are descendents from some patriot or another. Honor, however, only has the connection from the Huntzberger side through marriage, neither Shira nor the Huntzbergers have patriot blood. She only has patriot blood from Elias's mother who was a descendant. So her blood isn't very pure: She's only an eighth DAR. Now, most people don't know the specifics of how pure someone is in the DAR, we only have a general idea about Honor since she's Logan's sister, and she's one of our closest friends, so we've talked about it."

"Right," Rory said, picking back up the explanation, "then a variety of smaller factors could play into your standing like public service your family has done. Even more important than that is if you are the descendant of a president, vice president, or another high ranking government official."

"Like my family," Steph said offering another example, "the Vanderbilt's founded a University, and that is taken into account."

"It can get complex, but generally yes, the DAR women are near the top," Rory stated.

Thinking for a moment, Steph continued, "Next are women who are old money, but not connected to the DAR."

"Is that what Finn's family is?" Bri asked, knowing they were not from America so could not be part of the DAR.

"Technically yes, since they are Australian, but they have a long history there, so they fit somewhere between the two. Seth's family is old money," Steph said thinking through people Bri would have at least heard of.

"Got it," Bri said trying to keep up.

"There is a slight hierarchy within that group as well, based off of things like prominent family members. Next is new money," Steph kept explaining.

"This is where a lot of the slutty society girls fit," Rory explained with a wicked smile.

"Their goal is to marry a guy from old money, to help elevate their family's status," Steph offered.

"Then, last are the gold diggers," Rory said seriously.

"Like Shira and Caitlin," Steph said, nodding.

"Caitlin?" Bri asked.

"Colin's step-mother of the month," Steph said with the wave of a hand.

"So I would fit in with the gold diggers?" Bri asked, offended at the idea, but seeing she didn't fit in anywhere else.

"Well, there's the undefined groups, let's call them normal," Steph offered.

"Normal?"

"Yeah, not rich, but not gold diggers, just normal. Laura fits in here," Rory said trying to make her see this wasn't bad.

"They generally fit between old and new money, but people tend to forget about them because they fit in unnoticed."

Rory and Steph continued to fill Bri in on various people and things before they were interrupted by Shira, Caitlin, and a few others joining their group.

"Hello," Steph greeted politely.

"How are you girls tonight?" Caitlin asked in a fake cheeriness.

"We're well."

"How's work?" Caitlin asked, with a false smile.

Before anyone else could answer, Steph said, "Work has been going well, I find my research very interesting."

"When are you quitting Rory, you know, to take on the duties of being a wife?"

"She doesn't need to quit, I'm not when I get married," Steph said, trying to save her friend the questioning.

Shira could be seen glaring at Steph for answering the question so decided to be more specific, "Rory, that is an absolutely gorgeous necklace, when'd you buy it?"

"Logan bought it for me along with matching earrings," Rory replied simply, knowing what Shira was trying to do.

"Where did he get them?" another woman asked.

"Harry Winston," Rory said calmly, knowing the name would draw attention.

"So how much are they worth?" Caitlin asked, knowing that he made only the finest jewelry.

"I didn't ask," Rory said truthfully.

"When did you get them?" she asked, wanting more information.

"For our two year anniversary."

"Really?" Caitlin asked snidely, "Well, they are beautiful. But, honestly, what else would you expect for an anniversary than to get some gorgeously expensive jewelry."

"I made him promise not to get me anything. He had gone all out for Valentine's Day, and I didn't want him to do it again. Of course, he didn't listen, he can be so thoughtful," Rory said truthfully, but giving the society appropriate version of the story.

Annoyed that this wasn't going as planned, Shira turned on the last victim, commenting, "Brianna that's a lovely dress you have."

"Thank you," Bri said nervously.

"Where'd you find it?" she asked, appearing to be curious.

"A boutique in New York."

"Finn didn't buy it for you?" Shira asked, seeing Bri's expression she corrected herself, "Of course he did. Was it your parting gift?"

"What?"

"Well, I mean, he's leaving soon right, due back in Australia soon."

"Uh…" Bri started.

Before she could finish, one of younger girls in the group added, "A thank you for all of your services."

"No," Steph said firmly, stepping in.

Laughing, the girl said, "Tell him I say hi," then gave a flirtatious wink and walked away.

As the woman walked away, Bri was starting to let the fact she was upset show through. Rory noticed this and said, "Ignore them."

"Did you hear what they said?" Bri asked astounded.

"I did, but you have to ignore them. That's what they wanted to do, make you doubt yourself and the reason you're here," Steph assured her.

"Which is?"

"You shouldn't doubt yourself because you are a great person, better than they'll ever be, and you're here because Finn asked you. He wants to be here with you," Rory said confidently.

"Let's get you another drink," Steph said, leading the group to the bar all the while chatting.

--

Almost thirty minutes later, Rory and Logan were talking to Seth and Laura about the preparations they had started for the baby when Rory heard her name being called.

Excusing themselves from Seth and Laura and turning around, Rory saw her dad and smiled, "Hey," before giving him a tight hug.

Both Rory and Chris knew that their relationship had improved greatly over that past two years. Ever since Chris started paying for Yale, they had stayed in much more consistent contact. They usually talked twice a month and also met for lunch when Chris was in town on business, which was every few months. Their relationship would never be as close as the one Rory and Lorelai had, but it was now something that had a defined place in Rory's life and she liked it.

"I didn't know you were going to be here," Rory said.

"I tried my hardest to get out of it, but nothing worked," Chris joked.

"I'm sure this place has plausible escape routes," Rory shot back.

Chris smiled at her, she was so much like Lorelai all he could do was laugh, "Hi Logan."

"Chris," Logan replied and the men exchanged a quick greeting, before Logan glanced to his side.

"I'd like to introduce Carmen, my girlfriend," Chris said, looking at Rory to see how she would react. "Carmen, this is my daughter Rory and her fiancé Logan."

"Nice to meet you," Carmen said with a friendly smile.

"You too," Rory offered on behalf of both of them.

"How are the wedding plans coming?" she asked, hoping to break the ice.

"Good, we've got locations and dresses pick. Tomorrow we're meeting to start hammering out details."

"So it'll be exciting, but at the same time stressful," she offered.

Glancing at Shira, who was still standing on the other side of the room, "Stressful would be one word…"

"Don't worry Ror, I'm sure there will be plausible escape routes," Chris replied, mimicking her words from earlier.

"So how long have you two been dating?" Logan asked.

"Officially, almost a month, but we'd been on some dates before that," Chris answered.

After a brief moment of uncomfortable silence, Rory asked, "How's Gigi? I haven't seen her in a while." As she asked this, she thought about her situation with Gigi, and how it was very different than the one she had with her dad. Rory knew she had a younger sister and loved her as such, but to this point their interactions had been very limited. She hadn't seen her in almost a year and only talked very briefly on the phone a couple of times. Part of this was the age difference: Gigi was only now beginning to hold any semblance of a conversation, but also because Rory didn't make it up to Boston often.

"She's good. Talks about her new dress for your wedding to anyone who will listen."

"Really," Logan interjected, "you think she could rub off on Rory here…I can't get a peep out of her about her dress."

"But sweetie," Rory responded super sugary, "you can't know anything about the bride's dress – it's bad luck."

"Aren't you two just the cutest couple ever!" Carmen exclaimed, obviously not realizing that Rory was teasing Logan. The couple didn't know how to respond to her exclamation so they didn't say anything.

Luckily for them, Carmen continued, asking, "So how long did you date before getting engaged?"

"Just over two years," Logan answered and then turned to Chris and asked, "You said Gigi's excited about coming to the wedding. I hope she's not too upset about having to miss out on the reception."

Chris nodded in acknowledgment, saying, "She doesn't understand why little kids aren't invited for cake. But, I promised her a piece of cake which seemed to satisfy her. Besides, she'll have more fun at your mom's with the nanny than behaving properly at the reception."

"Very true," Logan laughed.

The group was so busy talking that none of them noticed Francine Hayden approach her son. Unfortunately, Rory and Logan didn't have time to get away before she reached the group. Halting conversation, she exclaimed, "Christopher, darling, I've been looking all over for you."

Rory froze when she saw who had just joined the conversation. It was the last member of the Hayden family, her paternal grandmother, Francine. Rory had not spoken to her since the incident in high school, she had heard her mentioned a few times and had even seen her once or twice at society events. When she did, she always made sure to keep her distance. Rory wasn't even sure that Francine would recognize her.

Seeing his daughter tense up, he sent her an apologetic glance and replied, "Mother, how are you? You look lovely this evening. I was going to search for you as soon as we finished talking with Rory and Logan."

"Really. Your daughter is here. I didn't realize."

"Yes Mother, she's right behind you."

"Oh Rory, hello."

"Hi Francine," Rory responded.

"I didn't see you speaking with Christopher. Have you been here long?"

"We've been here about a half hour, right honey," Rory said stressing the _honey_.

"Right," Logan jumped in seeing that Rory was not comfortable with the situation.

"Mother, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Carmen," Chris spoke allowing his daughter a moment to collect her thoughts.

"It's nice to meet you," Francine responded with a nod, halting all conversation.

After a few moments of silence, Logan noticed how nervous Rory looked. He held out his hand to Francine and interjected, "Logan Huntzberger, Rory's fiancé. It's nice to see you again."

"Oh yes, Logan. I spoke with your mother a little while ago, she mentioned you were here somewhere. How are you this evening?"

"Fine, thank you."

"Rory," Francine began and then paused. Francine looked at Rory's outfit and noticed the silver chain holding a slightly larger teardrop diamond with a smaller pink round diamond about it. She also saw she had matching earrings and took a moment to gather courage, then said, "your dress and jewelry are beautiful. The pink looks exquisite on you. Even the diamonds match."

"Thank you Francine, but Logan must take all the credit for all the jewelry since they were gifts from him."

"I should have known you would have impeccable taste in diamonds Logan, and that ring, simply breathtaking…why I just wish my Straub had such taste," she said wishing that her late husband had been better at picking out jewelry for important occasions rather than her having to do it herself.

Logan chuckled uncomfortably at such praises of his jewelry picking ability and replied, "I don't think it's the diamonds, I think it's the woman wearing them." He had always been uncomfortable when people complemented him on things he bought Rory. It was more about the thought and meaning behind the gift than the flawlessness of the actual diamond itself.

Another silence fell over the group; however, before it could become too awkward, the start of dinner was announced and the group moved to find their seats.

--

The dinner was good, except that it lasted for nearly two hours. Luckily, they were all sitting together and could keep things lively. Once dessert was finally cleared, Finn was out of his seat and at the bar in what was probably a record time.

"Is he always like that after a long dinner?" Bri asked.

"Yes," Logan and Colin said simultaneously.

Music began to play in the back ground and a few of the older couples made their way onto the dance floor, while the group continued to talk.

Not much later a flustered Honor came rushing over and grabbed Logan by the hand and pulled him onto the dance floor.

"Something wrong?" Logan asked laughing, noticing how frazzled his sister was.

"This guy would not leave me alone."

"Why didn't you tell him you are married?"

"I did, he wouldn't believe me."

"Speaking of, where is Josh?"

"Having a cigar outside with some friends."

"So you need me to save you?" he asked with a smirk.

"Don't gloat," she said with an eye roll. "So how have you been?"

"Good."

"And work?"

"It's work, but I'm actually enjoying it."

"Good. And Rory?"

"Rory's good."

"She was in the hospital Logan."

"You already called and got a full 30 minute Q and A session on the issue."

"Logan," she said in warning tone.

"She's fine. I'm making sure she sleeps and eats well, and has water along with her coffee."

"So Rory's good?" Honor asked, wanting one more confirmation.

"Yes! Is this some sort of check list?"

"Yup, almost done too. Wedding plans?"

"Good so far. Call me tomorrow…that may change."

"The honeymoon?"

"A secret, and since that's all I'm telling you, I know it will stay that way."

"You're no fun," Honor said, with a playful pout. Then thinking of payback she asked, "And the wedding night?"

Logan groaned, "You already had Josh talk to me about this, must you do it too."

"I just want it to be perfect for the both of you."

"I know," Logan relented.

"Do you know what you're going to get her?"

"For what?" Logan asked, not sure which event she was referencing.

"On your wedding day," Honor said as if it should be obvious.

"No. I've thought about it, I mean the easy choice would be jewelry, but somehow that seems so impersonal."

"Well, what does she like to do?"

"She likes coffee, reading and watching movies. None of those are anything I would want to give her on our wedding. I want something she would like, but is romantic, would remind her of us."

"She has to like other things too. Keep thinking, I'm sure you'll come up with something. Now, I think you need to go save Steph."

Logan glanced over his shoulder to where his sister was looking, then turned back, gave Honor a quick kiss on the check before heading towards his friend.

--

Steph, Bri and Rory were chatting, and Colin was sitting, hoping to avoid his father, when Finn came back with a tray of drinks. Setting it down and then passing them out, the five talked a while before Finn stood up, turned to Rory and demanded, "Dance with me Love!"

Rory laughed and set her drink down and let Finn drag her onto the floor.

"Is it okay for you to be dancing?" Finn asked, looking Rory over from head to toe.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Don't want you to faint on me," he said playfully, but Rory knew he was concerned.

"Logan told you to keep an eye on me didn't he?" Rory accused.

"I would have been looking out for you anyways, but yes, yes, he did."

"Thanks," Rory said with a small smile. "How's work going?"

"Work? Really, is this conversation that boring?" Finn teased.

"No, we just haven't talked about things like this in a while, I miss it."

"Good, I've been extremely busy."

"Crisis?"

"A long drawn out one, yes."

"What happened?"

"Well, we've been having some issues with our Latin American hotels."

"Really!" Rory exclaimed, "What kind of issues?"

"Well, you know how Pinochet died about this time last year…"

"Yeah."

"So, now most of Latin America is in chaos with the power struggle in Chile and speculation on what is going to happen in Cuba after Fidel and his younger brother Raul die."

"I've been reading about everything that's going on there."

"Right, so my dad's been handling most of the problems, while I've been taking over some of his work. But I've been keeping up on the issues there as well, it's really quite interesting to see the fallout from his death, especially the affect it's had on the country and region."

"I know. I can't believe the American government supported Pinochet's military coup over President Allende's government in '73," Rory exclaimed, not understanding how the country could not support a popularly elected president regardless of the fact that he didn't get 50percent of the vote. Apparently, the fear of communism was so severe during the Cold War that Britain and the US would rather aid the military junta than support a president who wanted to revolutionize the economy into a more socialist state.

"Under Pinochet, the government was the strongest in Latin America. Our hotels in Chile were doing well and we could keep a steady workforce there – I think it had something to do with them being too scared to be out and about when so many people went missing. But now, we can't keep a staff at our hotels. And, tourism industry is plummeting as well."

"Wow, I had no idea. I guess it's true that Chileans were scared of Pinochet and for good reason too. Tons of people went missing during his reign. It's just shocking that Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were two of his strongest allies when they claimed to support democracy above all else."

"But," Finn cut in, "they actually supported capitalism above all else."

"Exactly!"

With that, Rory and Finn continued to discuss politics in the Middle East and Russia for the rest of their song.

--

Steph watched as Finn took Rory off onto the dance floor. After a few moments, Colin turned to Bri and asked, "Want to join them?"

"I don't want to leave Steph all by herself," Bri said with worry.

Normally, Steph would agree with her, but what Colin was doing was so sweet, she had to let him, "I'll be fine, I'll get Huntz if I have to."

Colin walked Bri out onto the dance floor and said, "Congratulations."

"For what?" she asked confused.

"You survived."

"It's not over yet," she pointed out, glancing around.

"Trust me, you survived. Once dinner is over, people have had a few drinks, much less stressful of a crowd."

"I was nervous."

"And, I must say you handled the silverware like a pro," he said with a playful wink.

"There was a high pressure moment when I saw the fifth fork."

"They don't always set the dessert fork, sometimes they bring it out with dessert," Colin said in mock defensiveness. He then asked, "Did anyone corner you?"

"There were some girls when I went to the restroom earlier. And don't worry, they weren't very nice, but thanks to all of your warnings, I was prepared."

"Good. My father didn't hit on you did he?"

Mustering up the most serious face she could, she said, "You don't want me to be your step mom?"

"You're hysterical," he said dryly and the two continued to talk and dance.

--

After leaving Honor and walking up to the table, Logan took Steph's hand and raised it slightly, asking, "May I have the honor of this dance?"

"Of course, kind sir," Steph replied, standing gracefully from her seat, leaving two teenage boys, awe-stricken boys behind.

"What was that about?" Logan asked.

"They're high school seniors, wanted to show me a good time."

"I'm just a regular knight tonight," Logan smirked.

"Are you?"

"You're the second damsel in distress I came to the aid of tonight."

"I see, but you know what I was thinking?"

"What?"

"They are exactly like you guys were at that age, well mostly you and Finn."

"I was not!"

"You guys hit on anyone, and shamelessly too," Steph reminded him.

"You're forgetting one thing."

"What that?"

"I always got the girl. So really they're just a cheap imitation, otherwise, you'd be in the coat room right now."

"Are you propositioning me, Mr. Huntzberger?"

"I wouldn't want to shatter your virginal innocence," Logan said sarcastically.

Steph couldn't keep playing along and just started laughing. "My virginal innocence?"

"I thought it was a nice touch."

"I'll be sure to tell Colin tonight."

"Do you really want my death on your hands?"

Steph shook her head, "Back to my wild ways."

Each pair finished their dance and then switched around, going back to their significant other, with Logan forcing Rory to sit down and drink some water every few songs, not wanting her to over exert herself.

When they decided to leave, Colin, Steph, Finn, and Bri headed out to the limo they arrived in to go back to New York while Logan and Rory took another limo to the Dragonfly where they were staying so they could meet with everyone the next day to work on the wedding plans.

--

The four heading back to New York spent most of the ride in silence after spending the better part of the last 5 hours socializing. Only after Steph and Colin were dropped off at their apartment did Bri think to start a conversation.

"Thanks," Bri said barely above a whisper. The night had been such a whirl wind, and it wasn't until she was sitting in the silence of the limo that she had a chance to think everything over in her head. When she did, something Shira had said kept coming back into her head.

"What's wrong Doll?" Finn asked, knowing something was bothering her.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just all overwhelming," Bri lied, not wanting to bring it up, afraid of what the answer would be.

"Really?" Finn asked, knowing there was something more she was thinking about.

The two sat silently before Bri blurted out, "Are you moving back to Australia?"

"What?" Finn asked surprised.

"Are you moving back?" Bri repeated.

"I don't know," Finn said honestly.

"You don't know?"

"I guess it's an eventual possibility. But I don't have to, I like living here, I would only go back if I wanted to," Finn explained.

"Why?"

"Well, the headquarters for the corporation are there, but like I said, I don't need to move."

"So you're not moving next year?" Bri asked, wanting to make sure she understood him clearly.

"No. I plan on being in the US for a number of years."

"Okay," Bri said, accepting that answer.

"Anything else you want to ask?"

"What corporation?"

"Morgan Corporation."

"Your family owns it?"

"Yes," Finn answered simply, knowing more questions would come.

"So they own a hotel in Australia and America?"

"A hotel?" Finn asked, almost wanting to laugh at the question.

"Well, the hotel you work at here and the company is Australian so I would think you own one there."

"We do," Finn said still amused.

"And you run the hotel in New York?"

"I work out of the hotel in New York," Finn corrected.

"What's the difference?"

"I help run that hotel, but there is still a hotel manager because I have other duties as well."

"Like what?" Bri asked curious.

"I have to keep an eye on other hotels."

"In Australia?"

"No, here."

"You have more than one hotel in America?"

Laughing, Finn said, "Yes."

"How many?"

"Where?"

"In America," Bri replied.

"About 600," Finn answered almost embarrassed.

"600!" Bri exclaimed.

"Well that's in North America, around 450 in America" Finn corrected.

"How many total?"

"Almost 1500."

"Where?"

"Well, roughly, 300 in Australia, 300 in Europe, 150 in Asia, and 150 in South America," Finn answered, ticking through the list in his head.

"So you own 1500 hotels, that's it?" Bri asked sarcastically, not even able to comprehend what that meant.

"No."

"No?"

"Well I don't own them, Morgan Corporation does, but there are other things too."

"What other things, and who owns the corporation?"

"Mostly my dad owns the company right now, but I hold some stock, and I will inherit his eventually."

"Okay and what else?"

"Morgan Corp owns a cruise line in Australia that has eight ships. And from my mom's family, there is a vineyard," Finn explained. The vineyard was something his mom had inherited as the only child. It was a successful business, and her family was wealthy, but they never were ones to get caught up in society. When his parents married, his mom's family had consciously made a point to keep the company independent of the Morgan conglomerate, but he knew some form of a merger would be made when he was given control of both.

"Wow," Bri breathed out not sure what else to day. "So you're really rich."

"Yes."

"How rich?" she asked, trying to grasp the information.

"Are you asking how much I'm worth now, or will be worth some day?"

"What's the difference?"

"What I'm worth now basically consists of what was in my trust fund, my salary, a few stocks, and some property, like my apartment. What I will be worth in the future basically adds on the worth of company to my personal worth now."

"Um, both?" Bri asked shyly.

Finn thought about her question for a few minutes, trying to decide if he should answer. He knew this was not a topic that was discussed outside of family, but for some reason heard himself answering before he could stop it, "My trust fund was at 100 million, so my worth is slightly over that now that I've turned 25 and was given access to the funds. The total worth of Morgan Corporation and the Vineyard is around one billion."

"1.1 billion," Bri mumbled.

"I guess, I haven't thought about it much."

"Is that more or less than Logan? Or what about Steph or Colin?" Bri asked. She didn't know exactly what Huntzberger Media was worth, but working in the newspaper industry, knew it was a lot. She wondered how Finn's worth compared to that, it would put it into some prospective.

Thinking about the question, Finn ran through what he knew in his head. Logan's trust was around 80 million, while _HM_ was worth 850 million. Colin's trust was 60 million and his family fortune around 500 million. Steph's, while the Vanderbilt name carried the best reputation had a trust of 50 million and her family was worth 450 million. Rory, had trusts of her own totaling 20 million, he assumed she had money from her grandparents and father, but she had also mentioned her great grandmother, either way he didn't know the details. Going through the figures he knew the answer, but knew he couldn't tell Bri. Finally sighing he let out, "Bri this isn't something we talk about."

"We?" Bri asked confused.

"Me, Logan, Colin, anyone from old money really. We don't talk about what we have or what we are worth, it's considered taboo, but everyone knows. I'm not saying you can't know, but it's not my place to tell you about them."

"So I'm just supposed to walk around clueless?" Bri asked.

"No, it's just not…"

"I could look up how much the companies are worth on the internet," Bri reminded him.

Knowing she was right, Finn relented, "Fine, but I'm only telling you about the family, not them individually."

"Okay," Bri said, trying to brace herself for what he could possibly say.

"The Huntzberger's are worth around 850 million."

"You're richer than Logan?" Bri asked in shock.

Finn just nodded and continued, "The Vanderbilt family fortune is about 450 million, and the McCrae's are worth about 500 million I think – it's hard to keep up with all of Colin's dad's divorces since each of his ex's get a small amount in the divorce settlement."

"So if you're not supposed to talk about why did you tell me how much you are worth?"

"You're my girlfriend," Finn offered simply.

"You didn't _have _to tell me," Bri pushed, she didn't want Finn to think she needed to know, or that money had anything to do with why she was dating him.

"Bri, I love you, our relationship is great. I told you because I wanted you to know." During Bri's silence that followed, Finn realized what he said and just looked at her and calmly repeated, "I love you."

Bri didn't know how to respond, mentally, she was freaking out. Before she could even try and fumble through an answer, she felt Finn kiss her softly.

"Finn, I…"

"It's okay Doll," Finn said soothingly. Looking out the window, he saw they were about to pull up in front of her apartment. The pair got out and Finn walked Bri to her door and gave her one last kiss and wished her goodnight, before heading home himself.

--

Rory and Logan watched the other limo pull out while waiting to start their shorter drive to the Dragonfly. By the time the limo reached the Inn, Rory was dozing in and out against Logan's chest. When Logan saw the door open, he began to nudge Rory awake.

"Ace," he whispered.

"Mmm?"

"We're at the Inn, we need to go to our room."

"Sleep here," she mumbled.

Not giving up quite yet, Logan started to move towards the door and repeated, "Come on Ace."

Finally opening her eyes, she looked around, and seeing where they were, followed Logan out of the limo. Logan led then to the desk, quickly grabbed their key from the desk where Lorelai had told them she would put it, and led Rory up to their hotel room.

Once in the room, Rory immediately turned on the coffee pot before going to get out of her formal clothes and slipping into her pajamas. She was almost done pulling the bobby pins out of her hair when she heard the coffee beep, indicating it was done.

Logan had walked in and simply removed his tux and was now sitting in his boxers and a tshirt, watching as Rory went through her little routine. He laughed when he caught her practically moaning when she heard the coffee was ready and then watched as she left the bathroom and filled a mug.

After pouring her second cup, she walked towards him, and gave him a very happy, "Hi."

"Hi," he replied, amused at her current behavior.

"What?" she asked, sensing something was off, and sat down next to him on the bed.

"You were practically asleep in the limo and now you're bouncing off the walls."

"Coffee," Rory said in a 'duh,' voice.

"Why not just go to bed?" Logan asked confused.

"That would be boring," Rory said seriously.

"We wouldn't want that," Logan said, then leaned over and kissed Rory, who responded quickly to the kiss. Since she had fainted, the most they had done was a quick kiss here and there. If she had to guess, she would say Logan was nervous about taking it any further.

Rory wrapped her arms around Logan's neck, working to deepen the kiss. Soon, he started to lower her body towards the bed, kneeling over her as he moved. His lips moved off her lips and to her neck and down to her chest that was exposed by her shirt. For her part, Rory was enjoying the sensations he was creating, not wanting it to end.

Logan worked his way back up, and as he did, slid his hand under her shirt. In between kisses, he began to expose her stomach and finally pulled her shirt off completely. Logan kissed her for a few moments before moving his mouth to her breast.

Rory, not to be outdone, reached down and pulled at his shirt. Once it was discarded, she weaved her hands into his hair not wanting him to stop. Logan had his hand under her shorts, running his fingers over her panties. After teasing her for a bit, he removed his hand, causing Rory to groan, he moved to the elastic waist and tugged her panties and shorts down together. Rory moved out from under Logan, and as she did urging him to remove his boxers, before settling herself over him.

She was about move down his body when he suddenly sat up and said, "We need to stop."

"What why?"

"This isn't good for you: You still need to take it easy."

Rolling her eyes, she let herself sit on his stomach and said, "Logan this is getting ridiculous."

"I'm just worried."

"And that's sweet, but do ever plan on us having sex again?"

"Yes," Logan said firmly and in disbelief that she even asked that.

"So why not tonight?"

"It's only been a few days since you were in the hospital."

"Live on the edge Huntzberger."

"I don't want to push you too fast."

"You're not, I really want to do this Logan," Rory said. Then leaned forward, kissing his chest and then neck, up to his ear and whispered, "I've missed you."

This caused Logan to let out a low groan and flip them back over. He moved his lips back down her body, only now continuing further down to her center. Happy to be this close to her again, Logan teased her for a while, he loved watching her react when he did this. Soon, he started to trail his lips back up her body and settled himself him between her legs. Grabbing a condom, he quickly encased his arousal. He kissed her again as he moved to enter her. He paused, enjoying the feeling before he began to move.

A while later, Logan lay on the bed, Rory curled up next to him asleep, on the verge of sleep himself as he dreaded the day to come.

--

**_A/N: We hope you enjoyed the chapter and as always please review!_**

**_Now, for a few things: Please check out the blog to see pictures of the dresses and to clear up any questions from all of the family members in the chapter. We didn't mean to make it confusing, but it's a party so naturally there were lots of people. Also while there was a lot going on here some things we did want to explain were society, money and the Hayden's. There will be more Haydens, this was just the first place we planned on bringing them in. If you have any questions surrounding any of this (or the fic in general) please ask!_**

**_We're planning on the next chapter to be up quicker than this was, but if you're wondering look at the blog for updates on the progress._**


	30. Feathers and Bows

**_A/N: First of all, yes we're alive and I apologize for how long this took. All I can say is the holidays threw me off my schedule and then I started coaching which made the time fly and the next thing I knew weeks had passed. Thank you all for your reviews and patience. Also, I have to thank Christi for staying up on the blog and giving you all some updates while I was MIA. _**

_**Enjoy the much delayed chapter!**_

--

Saturday morning Rory and Logan got ready before taking the limo they had for the day to the club to meet everyone for brunch. They were currently sitting in the back of the parked limo, when Logan asked, "Ready?"

"Yes," Rory said quickly, but when Logan reached for the handle she yelled out, "No!"

"No?"

"Just give me one more minute before we have to deal with everything."

Logan sat back in silence, and after what was at least a minute, he asked again, "Ready?"

Rory nodded and let out, "Yes."

"And you're sure?" he teased.

"Yes, let's go," Rory relented following Logan out of the limo.

--

Rory and Logan walked into the restaurant for brunch seeing Richard and Emily were already sitting at a large table. They exchanged greetings and talked about the party the night before. Next, Chris arrived and joined in the conversation until Mitchum and Shira arrived.

Logan saw his parents and decided to take the lead and give introduction, "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Chris Hayden, Rory's father. Chris, my parents, Mitchum and Shira."

The three exchanged polite greetings before sitting down to wait until finally Lorelai arrived.

"Lorelai, glad you could finally join us," Emily said as her daughter moved to join the group.

"I'm here," Lorelai said shortly as she hugged Rory quickly before sitting.

"But not on time," Emily commented after glancing at her watch, then added, "as usual."

"I have a streak going since Easter 2006, which was purely accidental; don't want to break it now."

"You find this amusing?" Emily asked.

"Yes, I do," Lorelai said seriously, causing the men at the table to stifle a laugh when they saw the reaction on Emily's face.

"So Chris, where is Carmen?" Logan asked, wanting to get onto a new topic.

"At the hotel catching up on work she missed on Friday," he replied.

"Carmen?" Lorelai asked.

"Dad's new girlfriend," Rory said with a smile.

Lorelai let out a laugh, "Girlfriend? Good for you."

The waiter soon appeared and took orders from everyone. Soon after he left, Emily decided they should get down to business. "Where should we start?"

Rory sighed, but answered, "The guest list," knowing it would be much easier once it was out of the way.

This caused both Emily and Shira to each produce a list from their purse of who they felt should be invited and handed them over to the Rory.

Rory glanced over each list and quickly realized there were far too many people on them.

"Mom, that's a long list," Lorelai pointed out, having seen it as it was passed.

"Your father and I know a lot of important people," Emily said easily.

"I thought we said we didn't want a wedding full of business associates, I thought that was fully understood at our last meeting," Logan reminded them.

"These are our friends Logan, important members of society. Only four of these men work for your father," Shira pointed out.

"So who are the rest?" he challenged.

"As I said, important members of society."

"And how many of them do you socialize with outside of set society events."

"That's not the point Logan, these are prominent families, many of whom have already asked me about your wedding and clearly indicated they expect an invitation."

"Grandma," Rory said glancing up from the list, "you have Constance Bedderton on here. You can't stand the woman!"

"She's a member of the DAR, as am I, and you, for that matter, it's expected that she will be invited."

"You can't stand her and neither can I, I'm taking her off the list," Rory said firmly, and crossed the name off the list along with a few others that she knew fell into the same category.

Seeing that Emily was still unhappy about this, Rory reminded her, "Our reception is being held at the Dragonfly, which can only accommodate 240 people, which is fine because we do not want our wedding any bigger."

"Two hundred forty includes the wedding party, so if you count everyone who is standing up and their dates, plus the rest of us at the table here, you can invite about 220 people," Lorelai added.

Logan decided now would be the time to explain how the invites would work, knowing if he waited too long his mother would conveniently forget about the size restrictions. "Before everyone starts looking over their lists again, Rory and I have talked about this and decided that in the name of fairness, we are dividing up the available seats. Each family will get 50 seats for family and friends of the family. That means that 50 for my side and 50 for Rory's. It also means that it we will have the final say on these seats so the people invited will truly fall into that category. Mom and Dad, you have 25 seats for business associates, Emily and Richard, you get the same amount. Lorelai and Chris, you get 25 seats for any additional people, I assume you can share. Rory and I then get 50 seats."

After Logan finished, Rory turned to her Grandmother and said, "You can use your 25 seats however you want, but the 50 seats for friends and family are for my entire side of the family. Mom and Dad will both have people they want to invite as part of that amount. Mom and I have friends from Stars Hollow that will be included in that number. Once we finish going over all the lists, we can discuss our portion of the guest list more."

When it appeared that Emily was accepting that statement, Rory continued turning so that Shira knew this was addressed to her as well, "But, please realize, this is our wedding, and people who we know and who we'vetalked to should be invited over people we've never met."

Handing Logan Emily's list, Rory moved onto Shira's list and looked it over, checking some names off, that were duplicates between the two lists. After a few minutes, she turned to Logan, saying, "Vanderbilt's and McCrae's on here, but we'll need to put the Morgan's on our list."

Logan added the name to the list he and Rory brought with them, while Rory made a few more check marks then crossed a few names off.

Seeing this Shira demanded, "Who did you remove?"

"Nora and Francine."

"What? Why?" Shira asked outraged.

"They overlap with other lists."

After going through the entire list, Rory looked up and said, "Before we go through these lists further, I think we should start a list of the family members we need to invite and then the rest of your numbers can come from whomever on your lists are still remaining after Logan and I went through them."

Seeing that neither Emily nor his mother were going to say anything, Logan continued, "Knowing this, we were hoping to start a list today, we should at least be able to figure out the counts for family, and don't forget to include a date for people who are single. So, for Dad's family you would have one grandparent, three aunts, three uncles, seven cousins and their seven dates giving you 21."

"Logan, you're forgetting the rest of the Huntzbergers."

"We said close family, Mom."

"But they're family. They should be at your wedding."

"Let me say this again, we are having a small wedding. You can invite as many of those family members as you want, but you only have 50 seats, so choose wisely."

Mitchum decided to compromise, "I have three cousins I should invite. We spent a lot of time together through the years, that's six more."

"Okay so 27," Logan announced purposefully skipping over his mother's family. His maternal grandparents had died when he was young, and since then, his mother had ceased all contact with her remaining family. While he was doing the counting, Rory was taking notes and making sure to highlight those names from the Huntzberger list with the highlighter she brought for that very purpose.

Turning the count to Rory's family, he asked, "Emily, Richard, which Gilmore family members need to be on the list?"

"I have a sister, then Richard's aunt, and two cousins, so that would be six," Emily replied and Richard shook his head indicating he had no one to add.

"Lorelai?" Logan asked.

"What?"

"Any family?"

"I thought this was covered when you asked my parents."

"Mom, Luke," Rory reminded her.

"Oh! Sorry," Lorelai apologized quickly, then answered, "I guess his sister and her family, so four."

"Chris, what about you?"

"Gigi won't be at the reception so doesn't need to be counted," Chris answered, thinking out loud.

"Gigi?" Shira asked.

"My other daughter, Rory's half sister. She's five. Then, there is my mother, an aunt and uncle, and two cousins I am still close with. That would be seven."

"Is it really necessary to invite these people, who no doubt have the class of a wild animal."

"Excuse me?" Chris asked, clearly confused.

"I mean really, this will be the society event of the year."

"I don't see the problem."

"How can you expect them to not stick out," Shira accused, while everyone else at the table looked as confused as Chris.

"They've managed it for a few years now," Chris answered with a small laugh.

"You're mother is fine, but the rest of your family?"

"I think they'll be just fine. In fact, I'm sure you've met them."

"Really?" Shira asked, clearly skeptical, "When?"

"Many occasions, or I would assume as much. However, I know you spoke to my mother last night."

"Last night? I don't remember talking to any of the help."

"She was a guest."

"Who?" Shira asked very curious by this information.

Smiling, knowing how she would react, Chris took pleasure in saying, "Francine Hayden."

"What about her? How do you even know her?"

"She's my mother," Chris said slowly. Letting his words register, Shira sat frozen at this piece of information.

After a few minutes of silence, Shira was finally able to choke out, "What?"

"My mother," Chris slowly explained, "is Francine Hayden."

"I was given no reason to think you could possibly be related. Besides, I have known Francine for years and never knew she had a granddaughter," Shira exclaimed now thinking that she was being tricked.

"Mother!" Logan exclaimed, "Why is it so hard to believe that Rory's father is Christopher Hayden, son of Straub and Francine Hayden."

"So why haven't I seen you in society?" Shira asked, looking Chris over.

"I live in Boston and, like Lorelai, I try to avoid it."

"Then why isn't Rory's last name Hayden?" Shira asked, still in shock about what she was being told, and confused as to how she never heard this before.

Chris decided to answer that question, "Lorelai raised Rory and did almost everything herself. Lorelai, Richard, and Emily gave her everything and helped her turn into the person she is today. My parents had nothing to do with it. Rory may be a Hayden by blood, but _she_ is all Gilmore."

"If her parents are a Gilmore and a Hayden, they should have been married when she got pregnant. It's the proper thing to do. Saves a scandal," Shira pointed out, thinking this was somehow all a hoax.

"Lorelai and I were too young to get married, we were only 16. We did what was best for everyone involved, Shira."

"How is allowing an illegitimate child to be born the best for everyone. Seriously, Emily, you should know better. Her father is a Hayden, not the pool boy, he shouldn't have been hidden."

Lorelai began snickering and muttered under her breath to Rory who was sitting closest to her, "The pool boy was **so** not that cute."

Everyone else was too shocked by Shira's words to say much and remained silent as Mitchum shot his wife a look reminding her to stay on her best behavior. Knowing he needed to keep his son from being the first to respond, Mitchum broke the silence saying, "I think it is commendable that Lorelai and Christopher were able to raise such a remarkable young woman given the circumstances."

His comment seemed to calm everyone down as Lorelai looked shocked that Mitchum complimented her on raising her daughter.

Knowing his mother would be less confrontational for a while, Logan decided to move on before she could continue her questioning, "Emily, what else did we need to decide on today?"

"We need to decide on the invitations. Now, I brought two books of samples for you to look at, but I pulled some of my favorites" Emily said, as she set a book out next to a pile of samples.

Rory cautiously reached forward and pulled one sample to look at, following her lead Logan picked one up as well. Looking it over he leaned over to Rory and whispered, "It has a butterfly."

Rory stifled a laugh and said, "This one has a lace bow."

Logan looked them both over and said, "And the butterfly is looking better and better."

Rory took both samples and returned them to the table before taking in the other samples her grandmother had chosen. Some were better than others they were all very feminine and while she knew Logan didn't care exactly what the invitations looked like, she doubted he'd want to send something like these out to anyone he knew professionally.

Rory saw her mom looking through one of the books and pulled the other one towards her and Logan so they could look through it.

"So anything else we want to eliminate?" Rory asked Logan as she scanned the first page.

Pointing to one that had two roses in full color on it he asked, "Flowers?"

"That would probably eliminate half the choices," Rory pointed out.

"If they're embossed, it's fine, but I don't want bright red roses on them."

"Agreed, anything else?"

"The ones with people creep me out."

Laughing, Rory conceded and they began their search. Before too long, they heard a squeal, causing them to look up. They saw Lorelai smiling and holding an invitation.

"What is it?" Rory asked.

"Snow," she said with a smile.

"Snow? Lorelai that is hardly appropriate," Emily exclaimed.

"It's a winter wedding, you know it does snow in the winter, right?" she asked sarcastically, and passed the invitation to Rory.

"It's cute," Rory commented while Logan whispered, "It doesn't have lace."

Rory passed the invitation to Emily who glanced at it before passing it to Shira.

Shira immediately spoke up, "This is an important family, the invitation needs to reflect our status. Something different…something like this."

Shira showed the group a textured gold invitation that had a feather weaved through one of the layers.

"It has a feather," Rory stated in a mix of confusion and awe.

Not wanting to have an argument break out, Emily offered, "This one is very simple, but still elegant."

The choice she held up was a white invitation with a square border in varying shades of sliver and whites.

Seeing that Rory was unsure of what to say, Logan interjected, "Why don't you keep those in mind, while we continue looking."

Both woman seemed happy at the idea and went back to what they were doing. Determined to find something they would both like and would also please the society women, the young couple resumed looking through the book.

After a while, they finally found one they both liked. It was cream colored with a few embossed calla lilies acting as a border and the font used was formal so they wouldn't need to pick out another one.

Getting the table's attention, Rory asked, "How about this one?"

Emily and Shira placed it under immediate inspection. Before they could argue against it, Rory pointed out, "It's simple, but it has calla lilies which are being used in the flower arrangements, so it even ties in."

That seemed to keep protests at bay and gradually the invitation made it around the table, and passing everyone's approval. Emily now had it back in her hands and pointed out, "The wording is formal and traditional, so we can use that."

Shira took it once more and read it before saying, "It won't work."

"Why not?" Emily inquired.

"You can't use that set up because her parents aren't married."

"That can be accounted for," Emily said easily.

"Our name should be on the invitation, our son is the groom and we are paying for a portion of the event."

"As is everyone here, need I remind you that the costs are being split," Chris said firmly, speaking up for the first time.

Hoping to calm everyone, Rory dug a pen out of her purse and wrote:

_Mr. Christopher Hayden_

_Mrs. Lorelai Gilmore-Danes _

_and_

_Mr. and Mrs. Mitchum Huntzberger_

_request the honor of your presence _

_at the marriage of their children_

_Lorelai Leigh_

_and_

_Logan Lyndon_

_on Saturday the fifteenth of December_

_Two thousand and seven _

_at five o'clock in the evening_

Rory showed the paper to Logan who nodded and got the group's attention to read what she had written. Upon hearing this, the group nodded, knowing it was the best solution they would find. Having the invitations now decided, they tackled the wedding programs, which in comparison to both the guest list and invitations moved quickly, and then Rory and Logan showed them some of the other things they had decided on.

--

When everything was done, Rory, Lorelai, Emily, and Shira left the club together and headed to the boutique where they had everything set up to find the three older woman dresses for the wedding.

Rory and Lorelai were in the back of the silent car, when Emily ventured, "Rory, it seems like everything for the wedding is coming along smoothly."

"It is. I know there's more to do, but I can't complain so far."

"So the big day is all set, what about the rehearsal dinner and the honeymoon? Anything we can help you with?"

"I think we have it taken care of."

"You know you usually give gifts to your wedding party at the rehearsal dinner, have you decided on what you're getting them?"

"Not yet, Grandma."

"Well, if you need help let me know, Dear."

"I will, but it's something Logan and I want to do together."

"Speaking of together…Lorelai, I hope you have made sleeping arrangements to guarantee they will be separated for the night before the wedding."

"I thought Rory would stay at home. I assume Logan will be staying either at the Dragonfly or in Hartford," Lorelai responded.

"He is welcome to stay at our house if he'd prefer over the Dragonfly," Emily offered, wanting to be polite.

"That's ridiculous," Shira exclaimed, "he will be staying at home the night before he marries _her_."

"I'll let him know that Grandma," Rory said, "but I think he'll probably stay with Honor."

"Why would he stay with Honor when he can stay at _home_?"

Knowing Logan never considered the Huntzberger mansion home, Emily continued to ignore Shira and asked, "Do you need any new clothes Rory?"

"For what?" Rory asked, confused.

"A dress for the rehearsal, undergarments for your wedding, clothes for your honeymoon…" Emily suggested.

"I have the dress and everything for my wedding day taken care of. I don't know what clothes I will need for my honeymoon."

"Hmmph," Shira let out, mumbling, "I doubt she'll be wearing clothes often since she'll be trying to seduce my son."

"Well, that depends where you're going," Emily offered, ignoring Shira.

"I actually don't know: Logan is keeping it a secret."

"A new bathing suit would never hurt."

"We did agree we would head for warmer weather," Rory offered.

"Then, you need at least one new bathing suit. Let me or your mother know, either one of us could take you and help you pick out something appropriate."

Seeing the panicked look on Rory's face at the prospect of bathing suit shopping with her grandmother, Lorelai offered, "I was hoping to take her Mom, so we can spend more time together before she's a married woman.

"That sounds nice," Emily said, but it wasn't very heartfelt.

After her last comment, the car fell silent until Lorelai whispered, "Explain to me again why we have to do this as a group?"

"It is a tradition that allows everyone to get to know each other better before their families are joined," Rory replied quoting what Emily had told her when the idea was proposed.

"What if I don't want to know them?"

"Are you about to tell Grandma that?"

"No," Lorelai sighed and leaned back into the seat, folding her arms across her chest, but then smiled, "but I can have fun picking out my dress."

"Please pick something appropriate," Rory warned.

"I will, but that doesn't mean I can't see the looks on their faces if I try on something that's not."

Soon enough, the car came to a stop. The four women exited the car and walked into the store. They were greeted by a sales woman and shown the area where they could try everything on. The sales woman encouraged them to use a rack to hang possible dresses so they wouldn't have to carry them around the store.

Before they could split up to begin looking around, Emily spoke up, "Girls, we need to remember the dresses we choose should compliment each other."

"I'm sure we can figure it out Mom," Lorelai said with an eye roll, and then quickly grabbed Rory's arm and began scanning the store.

"See any dresses you like?" Rory asked, as she wandered around, but staying near Lorelai.

Loerlai turned holding up two dresses and asked, "How about these?"

Rory looked them over before quickly saying, "Yes, and wow."

Grinning, Lorelai said, "I know!"

"How high does that slit go?" Rory asked.

"We'll find out when I try it on for Mom."

"You're feeling particularly evil today aren't you?"

"When it comes to Emily Gilmore, when am I not?"

"True," Rory said and turned back to the various dresses in front of her.

--

Rory sat on a chair near the changing area waiting while the other three went to try on the various dresses they had picked. "If you find something you like, keep it on so I can see."

The first person to emerge was Emily who had on a tan colored strapless dress with a layered hemline, but also included a lace jacket over the top. Rory couldn't help but think how well it suited her.

"Grandma, I love your dress."

"Thank you Rory, I must say I'm very happy with it," Emily agreed and then turned to look at it in the three way mirror. When she finished, she called out, "Lorelai, I want to see your dress."

"Give me a minute, and I'll be out," she replied. Emily stood waiting, until the door opened to reveal Lorelai in a purple dress, complete with sheer material across her stomach and a slit that went to the upper third of her thigh.

"Lorelai!" Emily reprimanded, while Rory laughed, "This is your daughter's wedding, and you look like a showgirl."

This caused Shira to appear, revealing her choice of a very tight red satin dress, with off the shoulder sleeves that followed down to a low neckline.

Before Emily could react to her selection, Lorelai said, "Geez mom, it's just a joke. I would never wear this dress, Rory's wedding or not…well, maybe for Halloween, but that would be it."

"So you have a more appropriate dress in there is well?" Emily asked, wanting to make sure she was clear.

"Yes, I'll go put it on," Lorelai promised, before mumbling, "can't take a joke."

Once Lorelai had left to change, Emily turned to Shira and asked, "Is this your idea of a joke as well?"

"Hardly," she replied and pulled herself into a dignified stance.

"That is not the type of dress the mother of the groom should be wearing."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Many things," Emily said simple.

"Such as?" Shira challenged.

"Well for one, it would be more suitable for a Christmas party than your son's wedding, then, there is the fact that you'd be in a contest with the most recent McCrae bride for the most inappropriate neckline at a wedding, but most importantly, we all know you weight is on an upswing during the holidays, how will it ever fit?" Emily said in a sickening sweet voice.

"You do not have the authority to tell me what I can and cannot wear," Shira snapped back.

"No, but I doubt Mitchum would be happy with that selection either."

Shira spun on her heel and returned to her dressing room, leaving Emily with a triumphant smile on her face.

While they were waiting, Emily asked, "Have you and Logan made plans for after you're married?"

"What kind of plans?" Rory asked confused.

"Well, what will happen with your work schedules? You will need to have time to spend together."

"We already do that now."

"And don't forget your wifely duties."

"Like what Grandma?"

"I know you'll be working dear, but who will make sure dinner is ready and his clothes are ready for work?"

"We'll take turns, like we do now."

"I forgot you live together. In my day, couples did not live together before their wedding."

"It works for us," Rory said, not wanting to focus too much on the topic.

"What about finding a house? Have you contacted a real estate agent and started looking yet? I hear Chappaqua or White Plains is very nice for people who work in the city."

"We have the penthouse," Rory pointed out.

"But once you're married, an apartment in the city will not be sufficient."

"It's just Logan and me, we're fine where we are."

"An apartment in the city is not the place to start a life together and raise a family. One day, you'll have a family and will need the house. You should get one before you get too settled where you are," Emily pointed out and then asked, "you will have a family right?"

"Yes Grandma, we want to have kids, but we haven't talked about when yet."

"You need to talk about these things. And, you need a house to be ready when that day comes."

"Logan and I will decide what we want when the time comes."

Lorelai re-emerged from the dressing room, halting the discussion between Rory and Emily, this time in a frost colored satin dress with thick straps that emerged from the trim and ran around the dress just beneath the bust line. Overall, the dress was formal, but had a much younger look to it than the one Emily had selected, making it suit Lorelai well.

"Is this better?"

Emily walked around inspecting it before giving her nod of approval. At this point, Rory decided to say, "The dress also came in a green, but I liked the idea of Mom complimenting the colors of the wedding party."

Emily smiled at her granddaughter and said, "It will do nicely."

Happy to have passed Emily's scrutiny, Lorelai stepped out of the way and waited for Shira to come out in her next dress option.

This dress was a form fitting, but not tight, black sleeveless dress that had a v-neck in both the front and back, yet it was much more tasteful than her first dress. The upper portion also had a black lace overlay that that had full length sleeves.

"Black?" Lorelai asked, before she could stop herself.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Shira asked, then looking towards Emily stated, "Is it still to Christmas-y for you?"

Emily looked the dress over, and had to admit; besides being black, the dress was a much better choice. Deciding she already vetoed one dress, Emily gave a small nod of approval, but couldn't resist throwing one more remark Shira's way, so said, "At least it will help hide that weight gain."

--

After the girls had left, the guys went to play nine holes. Making their way out of the club house, they took two carts, one for Chris and Logan and the other for Mitchum and Richard.

The foursome made their way to the first tee when they realized they were early. Logan and Chris were sitting a few yards back waiting for the group ahead of them to finish teeing off. Chris seemed to be deep in thought before he finally turned to Logan and said, "Never let go."

Logan turned to look at him, confusion evident on his face, causing Chris to clarify, "Rory, never let her go."

This caused Logan to smile and say, "I don't intend to."

"Back then, I didn't either. Don't take her for granted. I never thought I'd lose Lore, but I did when I couldn't handle growing up as fast as Lorelai could. You are both more mature than I was back then…"

"I can't imagine ever loosing Rory. I don't know what I'd do without her," he cut in, wanting make it clear how committed he was.

"Remember that, and you should fair better with your Gilmore girl than I did with mine."

"I will," Logan whispered, learning from Chris's mistakes would be much better than learning through his own.

"I wish I would have been in their lives more. I always wanted to be there for Rory and to help Lorelai, and the easiest way seemed to be if we were together. You have no idea how much I regret everything that happened, not being there."

"I'm sure they know that."

"Now, they do. But what good did that do Rory when she was younger and sick or hurt? Knowing now that I wanted to be there back then, doesn't change the fact that I wasn't when they needed me."

"They don't blame you, or Rory doesn't," Logan offered, unsure of what Chris was trying to convey.

"They should blame me. But, that's not what I'm trying to say. Just that, in the end, it doesn't matter what the reason was, not being there hurts and all the explanations in the world won't undo it."

"I'll remember that," Logan promised, knowing that Chris was warning him against excessive work commitments as much as he was being absent all together.

"It will be more important when you have kids, they'll need you more, and she'll need you more because of them. Don't put your kids through what Rory went through with me."

"We've talked about that already, I promised her I'll be there."

Chris nodded, happy to see Logan was aware of what his responsibilities were to Rory, but wanted to say one more thing, "And as long as we're learning from the past, don't let them go through everything we did."

"Like getting shipped off to countless boarding schools?" Logan asked, knowing they both attended numerous schools in a number of countries.

"That, and not wanting to be at home." Then, he smiled thinking of Rory being a mother and said, "You know if you have a girl she'll be a Lorelai, another Gilmore Girl."

"Lorelai IV, I've been told."

"She'd be beautiful," Chris realized, causing a look of fear to cross both their faces.

"She won't date until she's 30," Logan promised solemnly.

"I think every father likes to think that, and it's never true. More than likely, she'll find a guy like you or me, which means she'll probably end up in a closet or on a balcony doing things no father ever wants to think of his little girl doing. And you know what will happen at that moment?"

Logan shook his head, not even wanting to think about it, even in a hypothetical sense. Smirking, Chris said seriously, "You'll finally understand my urge to kill you the first time we met."

Even with all the awkwardness, Logan felt about that initial meeting, he couldn't help but laugh, and not only went along with the joke, but redirected it back at Chris by asking, "And what will Grandpa do?"

"Be your alibi when they ask about where you were at the time of the murder."

"Sounds like a plan," Logan said offering his hand, which Chris shook, making it clear he understood the seriousness of what Chris had said, regardless of the joking that had taken place.

--

At the same time, Richard and Mitchum were waiting in their cart as well.

"Did you talk to Rory?" Mitchum asked.

Richard nodded and then said, "She wasn't happy."

"Neither was Logan, but I think he understands that it's needed."

"I think Rory does as well, but she doesn't like to think it would ever be used."

"And, I'm not saying it will, but it's still needed," Mitchum offered, wanting to show he was in agreement. "I know they talked about it briefly. Logan told me that it is only to cover the business. He doesn't want any restrictions placed on personal finances or belongings."

"Rory basically told me the same thing," Richard agreed.

"I know neither of them want the prenup, but with our company being public, we need it for stockholder confidence."

"In that case, I think both should waive the right to claim any inheritance from the family of their spouse, including money, property, business ownership, and stock options," Richard suggested.

"That sounds reasonable and will keep _Huntzberger Media_ stable. This does include anything owned under the umbrella of the company as well?"

"It will, but what about money from their trust funds?" Richard asked.

"Well, I would say they should each retain control of their own, unless the funds were moved to their joint account. But when I talked Logan, he informed me they've already set up joint accounts, and he is in the process of transferring the sum of his trust into it. Do you know what Rory plans to do?"

"As of now, Rory doesn't have access to any of her trust funds yet, she'll get control when she turns 25. However, Emily and I have been talking to our lawyers and plan on granting her control when she is married."

"Does she know of your plans?"

"I informed her when we were discussing the prenup."

"And what will happen with that money?" Mitchum asked, not wanting Rory to retain her money while Logan was placing his in their joint account.

"She said that I didn't need to grant her access early because they didn't need it. But once she has access, that money would be moved into the joint account as well."

"Then, we don't need to worry about that," Mitchum said, then after a moment added, "Not that it would be an issue, but I think it should specifically say that in no way will this impact Rory's current or future employment with any _Huntzberger Media_ owned paper."

"I'm happy to hear that, and it will mean a lot to Rory as well," Richard replied. "Is there anything else to be discussed?"

"We've covered property, stocks, business, and inheritance. There is nothing stipulating alimony or settlements in case of divorce, but Logan was very clear on not wanting that included."

"Rory as well."

"Their trust funds are already accounted for. Is there anything else to discuss?"

"Not that I can think of," Richard said after a moment of thought.

"Then, I think all that is left is to discuss this information with our lawyers so they can draw up the final papers."

"Agreed, they should be signed at least one month before the wedding."

"I'll make sure to keep this moving then," Mitchum assured the other man, then asked, "how have you been hitting your driver this year?"

"We're about to find out, aren't we?" Richard asked, as both men stood and retrieved their clubs and prepared to tee off.

--

The early evening found Rory and Logan getting into a limo for the drive back to the City. They had finished settling in when Logan asked, "How was dress shopping?"

Rory shot him a look in disbelief and said, "Wonderful, I hope I can do it everyday."

"Right, dumb question. How was my mom?"

"She's been worse," Rory teased.

"That gives me no indication."

"She wasn't happy when I mentioned you may stay at Honor's the night before the wedding."

"I'm not surprised. Anything else?"

"Grandma yelled at her," Rory said with a grin.

"About what?"

"Her dress choice."

"What'd she pick?"

"Well, she tried on this one dress first, and it was red and really tight, and Logan, so not appropriate for a wedding."

"Please tell me she found something else?" Logan sighed, not wanting to have to deal with his mother's wardrobe on top of everything else.

"She found something else all right."

"It's worse?"

"The dress itself isn't worse," Rory said slowly, then emphasized, "it's black."

"And that's bad?" Logan ventured, seeing the disbelief on Rory's face.

"It's not just mostly black, it is **all** black! Which normally is not worn to a wedding to begin with, the average guest can get away with it, it's better than wearing white…"

"Why can't they wear white?"

"It's considered to be distasteful, taking the focus from the bride."

"Okay that makes some sense, now what's wrong with black? You just said it's better than white."

"For the guests, yes, but if the mother of the groom wears black, that means she does not approve of the marriage."

"And this is a rule?"

"Not technically, it's symbolic. Where do people normally wear all black, Logan?"

"Funerals?"

"Yes, do I need to continue with the explanation?"

"No, I get it. Ace, I hate to break it to you, but she does disapprove of the marriage."

"That doesn't mean she needs to make all of our wedding guests aware of it."

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Logan asked, sincerely, knowing it really was bothering Rory on some level.

"No, it will only make the situation worse; I'll just deal with it."

"To choose appropriate clothes teach her I will," Logan replied, hoping it would have the desired affect.

Almost immediately, Rory started laughing. Finally, she caught her breath and said, "Practicing your Jedi skills again? Honey, your mother isn't week minded, weak in morals, yes, but not in mind, so Jedi mind tricks won't work on her."

Logan only laughed in reply causing Rory to add, "Never make a Yoda reference again!"

"But, it got you to laugh," he reminded her.

"Well thank you, I needed that."

"And, do not knock Yoda, he was the most powerful Jedi on the Council."

"Not Samuel L. Jackson?"

"You mean Mace Windu?" Logan teased.

"Yes."

"He dies, Yoda didn't. Clearly, that means Yoda is superior."

"But Yoda didn't have the purple light saber, did he? All those Jedi and only one had purple, that has to mean something."

"It seems someone remembers her _Star Wars _marathon well."

"I still don't know why I had to watch them all."

"To make you understand the costumes I got for Finn's Halloween party."

"You could have shown me a five minute scene! Instead, you made me watch 12 hours worth of movie."

"I was trying to get you to go out in public wearing a gold bikini! I thought the more information you had, the easier you would agree. I know how much you like research."

"You could have just asked me to wear it as a way to get out of watching all 6 movies."

"And that would have worked?"

"You have a talent for persuasion."

"Only when it comes to you. And, you made a very hot Princess Leia."

"You enjoyed that outfit way to much."

"Any guy would," Logan defended.

"Why? You've seen me in less, and it wasn't any more revealing than a bathing suit."

"It wasn't what you could see, more what it reminds guys of."

"Which is?"

"An attractive young woman, who happens to be a princess, chained up in very little clothing…"

"So it makes you think of sex," Rory asked.

"Yes."

"And that's different from when you see me wearing a bathing suit how?"

"I see your point," Logan replied, then leaned over to kiss her, deepening it for a few well enjoyed moments, before eventually pulling back.

Seeing her questioning look, he asked quietly, "Do you know what the best part was?"

Rory shook her head causing him to continue, "All night I could look at you, and run my hands over your stomach."

"Oh that, I remember that. Han couldn't keep his hands off me, I almost filed a restraining order"

"Hey, Han was dating Leia. He had every right to touch her."

"And you just happened to be Han?"

"I didn't pick out that outfit for someone else to be," Logan said seriously, she had looked incredible that night.

"Of course not," Rory teased.

"You liked it, admit it! So much so, if I recall, you tried to jump me in the elevator on the way to our apartment."

"I did not," Rory tried denying, while blushing, knowing very well that he was right.

"You did because I think I had to stop you from unzipping my pants when the door opened to let us off on our floor."

"Are you complaining?" Rory asked, trying to feel better about how crazy she had acted that night.

"No, not at all, but it definitely made me love that outfit even more than before," Logan reassured her, kissing her again, and allowing himself to remember the fun they had that night, before adding, "What are the chances of you putting on that outfit for me tonight?"

"Not very," Rory responded with a blush, thankful she had hidden the outfit.

Kissing her once more, Logan pulled her to rest against him as he told her about his golf outing.

--

**_A/N: First and foremost, please review! For anyone wondering, you can thank HBO's Star Wars marathon for the end scene. But seriously, I hope you liked the chapter, and for those wondering 31 will be back at work._**

**_Pictures are up on the blog for your enjoyment. Christi has also started a few discussions there. We've both read them and all of your feedback is very helpful and now that this chapter is done we are going to take some time and look at them again and brainstorm some ideas based on them. If you still have ideas or come up with new ones post them, they will always be appreciated. Also check back occasionally as we try and give updates there regarding our progress for the next chapter._**

_**Again sorry for the long delay! **_


	31. Bling

--

Monday morning, Rory woke up at 7:00 because she decided to go into work early. She knew that it kept her from immediate questioning last week and hoped it would work again. So when her alarm went off, she got out of bed, started getting ready, and finished an hour later. As she walked into the kitchen to join Logan, he asked, "You ready for today Ace?"

"Yup," she replied, wanting to stay positive for as long as possible.

"You know you can call me if something happens?" Logan asked, reminding her that he was only a call away.

"Logan, I can't come crying to you every time something doesn't go my way. I need to handle some things on my own."

"I want to help you," Logan pointed out.

"You can't try to fix everything – that would only make the situation worse."

"What about last week, when you asked for me to come there with you, did that make it worse?"

"No. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you, and your Dad, for that matter, came by to help set the record straight about who I am. But if it happens again, it only proves that I am being treated differently because I'm your fiancé."

"True…but, that's not what I meant."

"Huh? You said…"

"I know what I said," he said, the smirk evident in his voice.

"So what didn't I understand?"

"I said you can call me. And, it's true: You can call me to complain or rant or what ever you need to do. That is not the same thing as asking me to come over and make it better. Which, as much as I may want to do whenever I have the urge, I can't."

Rory got what he was trying to say and smiled at him, then promised, "I'll call if I need to talk."

"Okay, now, can I give you a ride to work?"

"But someone might…"

"They know, and I'm within my rights to want to drop my fiancé off at work."

"Okay, but that means we need to leave soon, I fully plan on being safely hidden away at my desk before most of them arrive."

Logan let out a small laugh, "I'm just about ready."

Logan grabbed a few final things before making his way to the door. When he did, he pulled it open and let Rory out before him. It wasn't until he turned from locking the door and took her hand that he noticed it. Giving her a smirk, he said, "I like this better."

"Like what?" Rory asked, glancing around trying to figure out what he was talking about.

"Your ring," he answered, picking up their joined hands to show her the ring that sat on her finger, "It looks so much better on your finger than it ever did on that necklace."

"I never liked taking it off every morning," Rory admitted.

"Plus," Logan whispered in her ear, "it lets everyone you work with know you're mine."

Rory smiled, knowing she hadn't liked pretending to not be engaged either, and gave him a quick kiss before leading the way down to the waiting car.

--

Thirty minutes later, Rory walked off the elevator onto the forth floor of the _Observer_. She was half way to her desk when she was grabbed by the arm and dragged into a conference room.

Rory was so surprised that it took her a minute to realize who it was. When she did, she asked, "Bri?"

"You're finally here!" Bri exclaimed and shut the door behind them.

"I'm a half an hour early," Rory pointed out, wondering why she was so anxious.

"I know."

"So what's going on?" Rory asked, wondering about her friend's behavior.

"I'm going crazy," Bri ranted.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't believe he did that. I mean it has to be too soon. It's too soon right?" Bri continued rambling at an unintelligible speed, not acknowledging Rory's question.

"Bri, calm down," Rory stated, "You were fine when we left the event on Friday. When did this start? "

"Friday night."

"What happened?"

"I'm freaking out, and I **need** to talk to you," Bri said.

"Why didn't you just call?"

"I knew you were busy with wedding stuff."

"I could have used the distraction," Rory teased, but it was the truth.

"I didn't want to bother you," Bri said seriously.

"Bri, you can always call. Now, tell me what's going on."

"He said _I Love You,_" she said quickly.

"Who?" Rory asked, not letting herself assume whom Bri was talking about.

"Finn! Who else would be telling me that?"

"No one. Sorry, I'm a little on the slow side this morning," Rory explained and then asked, "So what did you say?"

"Nothing!"

"Not a thing?"

"I was in shock, and when I tried to say something, he stopped me."

"Have you talked to him since then?

"He called me Saturday," Bri answered, remembering how she had finally forced herself to stop thinking about it when he called, reminding her again.

"And?"

"He was letting me know that he had to head out of town for a few days, something about a hotel crisis in Florida. Then, he told me he shouldn't be gone more than three or four days, and he'd try to call."

"Okay, did he say it again?"

"Um, yeah," Bri said nervously.

"So he doesn't want to take it back, that's a good thing right?" Rory asked.

"It is," Bri confirmed.

"But you still didn't say it back?" Rory asked, wanting to make sure she had the story right.

"No, should I have?" Bri asked, now feeling guilty.

"Well, do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Love him?"

"I don't know. I mean, I like him."

"I figured out that much."

"And, I care about him."

"Yeah…" Rory agreed, not sure what else to say.

"He's nice and fun," Bri explained.

"Fun is one word for him."

"And, he's sweet."

"He can be," Rory confirmed, remembering how Finn had surprised her at times.

"But not in a cheesy way," Bri rambled.

"Okay, but do you love him?"

"I don't know, it's just there's still so much I don't know about him," Bri admitted and slumped back against the wall.

"Like what?" Rory asked, hoping more information would clarify Bri's concerns.

"Where did he go to school?" Bri asked.

"Yale," Rory stated, confused.

"No, high school," she clarified.

"Oh. Well, to be fair, there's not a simple answer to that question."

"Why not?"

"He went to a lot of them, Colin and Logan too."

"Why?"

"They got kicked out of most."

"Most? How many were there?"

"For Finn, I think 10."

"Ten? What about Colin and Logan?"

"I believe 5 for Colin, and 7 for Logan."

"They didn't always get expelled together?"

"They did at the first few, but after that, their parents made an extra effort to send them to separate schools."

"So what'd they do to get kicked out?"

"I never really asked; although, Logan once mentioned the dean's Miata in the bottom of a lake."

"A dean?" Bri asked, not following but then made the connection, "So they went to private schools, not public?"

Rory started laughing, "Please ask that question in front of Shira. Do you know what I would give to see her face when you ask that question?"

When Bri didn't respond, Rory looked at her and realized that her friend was being completely serious. Rory regained her composure and said, "They were all private schools, most were boarding schools," before adding on in a fake society voice, "Didn't you know public schools are beneath them."

Bri let out her own small laugh at Rory's attempt to lighten the mood. Quickly, however, she returned to the topic at hand and wondered out loud, "I still can't believe they got kicked out of so many schools. I never even had detention."

"It is impressive in its own right," Rory agreed.

"Why would schools keep accepting them?"

"With that kind of money, do you really need me to explain? Why would schools turn down their parents' donations, and the prospect of even more if the guys managed to stay there for a period of time?" Rory responded.

"I guess not," Bri replied, then after a pause said, "And then, there's that."

"What?"

"The money."

"Is that a bad thing?" Rory asked now confused.

"No, but I never knew. That's huge! I mean, he's a billionaire!"

"Bri, you had to know he was well off," Rory pointed out.

Bri sighed, "I guess. I know where he lived and saw who his friends were, that was enough to figure out he wasn't exactly poor. But, Rory, there's a difference between well off and unbelievably rich."

"To Finn, it's not a big deal."

"How is it not a big deal? Do you know how much easier things would be if I wasn't constantly worried about money?"

Rory gave her a small smile, "I can only imagine, but it isn't just money, it comes with strings."

"Strings?"

"Managing the money, running the company…"

"Oh," Bri said quietly.

"Yes, he has money, but he also has a lot of other things to worry about. He knows his mistakes could cost others their jobs. Things have gone well so far, but he always remains aware of the impact his decisions can have."

"That's a lot of pressure," Bri commented.

"It is, but it's something he has known about his whole life. For him, it's just the way things are."

"But still, the money isn't a bad thing to get stuck with," Bri mused, understanding Rory's point.

"True," Rory replied, then asked, "Are you mad he didn't tell you sooner?"

"No," Bri answered, unsure how to explain her thoughts.

"Then what?" Rory asked, knowing there was something more going on with Bri.

"I was just shocked, it's a big number," she said honestly.

"I know how you feel."

"How'd you deal with it?" Bri asked, hoping Rory could give her some advice.

"I always knew Logan had money. Well, I assumed he did when I first met him. And then, when I found out who he was, my assumptions were confirmed."

"Okay, but how did you deal with it?"

"I ignore it."

"And you could do that? It wasn't obvious?" Bri asked, unsure how you could ever just ignore that kind of money.

"Even though my mom raised me away from money, I was still surrounded by it. My grandparents are rich, and I went to Chilton."

"Chilton?"

"A private school in Hartford, I started there my sophomore year," Rory explained.

"Okay."

"I learned a lot about how society works, and while I didn't always enjoy it, it definitely prepared me for things with Logan."

"Such as?"

"While parts of their life reflect the fact they have money, money only makes them an heir. But that's all most people see. There's more to them than meets the eye."

"That's true for a lot of people," Bri pointed out, but seeing her point as well.

"And like anyone else, you get to know them by spending time together, leaning more about them. But it's hard because society can be ruthless, so they have more barriers protecting themselves than most people do."

"Okay," Bri said, but not following entirely.

Rory saw she needed a bit more of an explanation, "A lot of people who don't come from society make assumptions about _society kids_ without ever meeting them. At a college like Yale, people tend to think society kids get in on daddy's money even if they are less than deserving. After a while, it's easier to just let people believe the stereotype than to take the energy to prove them all wrong."

"What stereotypes?"

"The player, the snob, the shopoholic, the scheming debutante, or in Finn's case, the _rich drunk kid_."

"So the drinking was an act?" Bri asked confused.

Rory laughed, "No, trust me, he liked to drink. He still does. But at Yale, he never tried to hide it, if anything, he exaggerated his drinking. People expected it from him. No one looked past the drinking: It's all he ever was, the drunk, rich Australian. He constantly complained about the sun saying it was too bright because he was hung over, but he was just playing his character. He was actually drunk far less than most people realized, if he hadn't been how would he have ever graduated?"

"And this is how they all are?"

Rory laughed, "No. With some people, there's nothing beyond what you see on the surface."

"But that's not the case with Finn?" Bri asked. Seeing Rory's nod, she added, "So you're saying, I should ignore the money and focus on getting to know him better."

"Right."

"That's easier said than done," Bri pointed out, knowing that he had more money now than she could ever imagine making in a lifetime.

"Well…does his money have anything to do with why you like him?"

"How can you even ask me that?" Bri exclaimed, offended Rory would even think that. Yes, she was overwhelmed by the money, but it **was not** why she liked him.

"Exactly," Rory said smiling, "If you don't like him _for_ his money, why would the amount of money he has affect _how much_ you like him?"

"I guess you're right," Bri finally admitted.

"Good, so are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I just need to wrap my mind around it."

"You will," Rory assured, "eventually you'll see it just as money like Finn does." Seeing Bri give a small nod, Rory decided to get back to the original topic, "So are you still freaking out about what Finn said?"

"No, not freaking out, but that doesn't mean I know how I feel yet."

"And no one said you should. All I can tell you is to take your time, and don't say anything you don't mean."

"I know," Bri said, then added, "Thanks."

"Anytime, now, if I'm lucky, I can make still make it to my desk without being mobbed," Rory said and walked towards the door, with Bri behind her.

As she opened it and stepped out, she saw people took immediate notice of her.

"Sorry," Bri whispered from behind her, as they forced themselves to continue walking, knowing there was nothing more they could do.

--

Rory was very aware of everyone attempting to discreetly watch her as she walked to her desk. She hadn't made it far before Nicole, a tall brunette reporter in her forties asked, "Why'd you lie about your name?"

"Because I want to be known for my writing, not my name," Rory replied, having expected the question.

"But why lie to us?" Nate, another reporter in his late thirties, asked.

"Because half of you would think I got this job because of Logan, and the other half would think I'm marrying Logan for his name."

"Didn't you?" Jason, a younger reporter around thirty, asked, confident that this was just another case of the rich getting an advantage.

"No. I applied for this job under my penname and was hired based on my interview and the credentials on my resume."

"So then why lie to us if you have nothing to hide?" Danielle, a short blonde near forty, questioned, trying to see if the girl had a hidden agenda.

"If I would have come in here the first day and told you all that I was engaged to the owner, would you have even given me a chance?"

"We'll never know will we?" Sam, a photographer a few years older than Logan, pointed out.

"I was trying to do what I thought would be best. I've seen how people treat someone once they realize they have money or connections, I didn't want that to happen."

"So, you're basing this on what other people have done?"

"What else should I have done?"

"Given us the benefit of the doubt," Sam offered.

"I wanted you all to see that I can write as me and that I just wasn't published because I'm becoming a Huntzberger," Rory defended, trying to reason with everyone about her decision.

"So you aren't marrying him for his name?" Julie, Mike's secretary who was in her mid-thirties, asked skeptically, aware how much of a catch a Huntzberger was.

"You do know people can get married because they want to?" Rory asked rhetorically.

"They can, but that doesn't mean parents haven't been known to play matchmaker," Sam pointed out, his implications clear.

"My marriage was not arranged!" Rory exclaimed, now getting defensive.

"She wouldn't tell us if it was. That's the way society works, they basically arrange a marriage, then have the couple pretend like it wasn't by acting so _in love_," Alison said in a knowing tone, hoping it was indeed an arranged marriage, that way she would still have a shot with her boss.

"Which explains why he has a girlfriend on the side," Julie added.

"Girlfriend?" Rory asked. She knew Logan had no such thing, but didn't know what they were talking about either.

"Lorelai, we all heard him say he loved her," Julie pointed out, annoyed that Rory didn't seem more bothered by this information.

"What?" Rory asked confused as much by being referred to as Lorelai as she was about the event they were referencing.

"He was here, and his phone rang. We heard him say he loved her, everyone was talking about it," Nicole confirmed, now remembering the conversation.

"Steph?" Rory asked, finally realizing what they were talking about.

"I don't remember, that could have been her name," Nicole said.

"She's a friend of _ours_, not his girlfriend. They were joking around."

"If you say so," Nate mumbled in the back, sounding unconvinced. Most people wouldn't want to admit that they knew their fiancé was cheating.

Ignoring the last comment, Rory asked, "Is there something else, or can I get to work?"

When no one said anything, Rory walked the rest of the way to her desk and started going through her email and paperwork that had found it's way to her desk.

She was left alone until Mike approached, "Good morning…."

"Rory," Rory supplied, seeing he was unsure what to say.

"Right. I have your assignments for the week," he said shortly before handing her a few papers.

"Thanks," Rory muttered, as he hurried off almost immediately after she had the papers in her hands.

--

Rory finished up what she was working on before reading through the article information she had received. At first glance, she was confused seeing that these may be the three worst assignments she had been given. True, there were always less exciting articles to be done, but they were normally spread out and rotated between the writers. She then grew angry as she realized this was most likely some sort of revenge from her boss because of her hidden identity.

She was about to head into his office and give him a piece of her mind, but knew this was probably what he wanted, and it would only go to further the rumor that she was expecting special treatment. Not wanting to give anyone a reason to think that, she remained firmly in her seat. After taking a few deep breaths, she looked over the information again before spending the next few hours calling for interviews and doing preliminary research.

She was writing the introduction for her first article when she took a break and studied the newsroom. As usual, people were in various stages of work, with some wrapping up to take an early lunch break while others were deep in thought. She was about to return to her work when she overheard people talking.

"There's an article about the big society event last Friday night in Hartford. It says the Huntzbergers were in attendance," Danielle announced.

"What was the event?" Sue asked.

"A charity dinner for St. Jude's. All the big name families made an appearance."

"I wonder how much money they made."

"To date $694,000, and they are projecting $819,000," Danielle read from the paper.

"That's a lot of money for one night," Sue admitted.

"At one thousand dollars a plate, it would add up quickly."

"A thousand a plate?" Sam asked, almost chocking on his words.

"That's what it says, and the rest of the money came from private and corporate donations."

"I wonder how much the Huntzbergers donated," Sue asked.

Danielle skimmed the article, then answered, "It says 20,000." She had read through a few more lines before asking, "Her last name is Gilmore right?"

"Yeah, why?" Sam asked.

"It says here a Richard and Emily Gilmore donated 10,000," Danielle revealed.

"I wonder if they're related," Sam asked.

"Probably," Julie said snidely, "I told you this was arranged. The Gilmores are obviously trying to increase their prestige through this marriage."

"You don't know that for sure, she seemed pretty adamant that it wasn't earlier," he reminded them, the look on Lorelai's face at the accusation still clear in his mind.

"Everyone knows that the rich marry the rich, that's how it works," Alison said.

"She's right," Julie agreed, "They have more money than we could ever imagine."

"It's not just the money, think about going to something as glamorous as that," Danielle pointed out.

"What would you wear to a dinner that costs that much?" Alison asked.

"I can't even imagine," Sue said.

"Are there any pictures of Lorelai?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, this one is of them as they walked in," Danielle answered and then passed the paper around for people to see the picture of Rory and Logan.

"She looks hot, why haven't I noticed that before?" Jason commented as he glanced at the picture.

"Because she comes to work in business clothes, not a formal dress," Julie said sarcastically.

Ignoring her comment, Sam asked in surprise, "You never noticed how hot she is? Are you blind?"

"Do you think they've slept together?" Alison asked, as if the mere idea disgusted her.

"Are you kidding? Just look at her body, besides even she must know what men like that expect," Sam answered.

"They look too comfortable with each other to have not slept together." Jason added, looking at the picture of Rory and Logan in which Logan had his arm around Rory's waist. It was almost the same pose most other couples used, except their bodies were touching as opposed to having the more 'society' appropriate space between them. The other noticeable difference was instead of looking at the camera, their eyes were locked, clearly indicating that it was a candid image rather than the posed positions seen in photos of older society members.

Finally, Sue got a look at the picture and said, "Her dress is beautiful, must have cost a fortune." She looked at the picture a while longer before commenting, "And look at that jewelry, no doubt those are all real diamonds."

"Of course they are," Alison said, "With a man like that, she should expect nothing less."

Looking through the other pictures, Sam said, "Imagine who you could meet at an event like that. I mean it's the elite of the elite, the contacts you would make in a night could set you for life."

Alison had the paper again and was talking about the dresses. "I bet it's a designer dress, it has to be a designer dress. I wonder who made it…" she was rambling, when something else in the picture caught her eye, "Is that Brianna?"

"What? Where?" Sam asked, grabbing the paper and looked where Alison was now pointing.

While he did this, Julie pointed out, "She is friends with Lorelai, maybe Lorelai brought her along."

As she finished her thought, Sam found the appropriate caption and read, "Phineas Morgan - Executive Vice President, American Division, Morgan Corporation accompanied by Brianna Carter."

"I thought she had a boyfriend," Alison exclaimed, jealous that she never found a guy like that to date her.

Nate, who was currently looking at the paper, observed, "He kind of looks like that guy who takes Brianna and Lorelai to lunch, didn't she say that was her boyfriend?"

"Did he really seem rich?"

"No, but she clearly told me the guy from lunch was her boyfriend, and that his name was Finn," Danielle commented.

"Finn could be short for Phineas, I mean who would want people to call them Phineas?" Sue offered.

"Who would want to be called Finn?" Alison asked, not wanting to even think about Brianna having some rich boyfriend as well, it just wouldn't be fair.

"Well," Nate responded, still looking at the article, "if the Finn who visits the office is the same as the Phineas who took Bri to the event, he must be really rich, it says here he donated 25,000 to the charity."

When Rory was sure they were completely distracted by Finn's possible identity as Phineas, she stopped listening and walked over to Bri, wanting to give her a heads up.

Rory leaned in and whispered, "They saw a picture of you and Finn from Friday."

Bri froze and asked, "What happened?"

"I think they're all confused, except Alison who seems jealous, which I'm not surprised by. I just came by to warn you that you may get some questions as well."

"Thanks, so what else did they say?"

Rory quickly ran through what had been said, before saying they could talk more later and heading back to work.

--

Thirty minutes later, Rory gave up, knowing she needed to take her lunch, but hoped it was late enough that she could avoid most of the staff. She walked into the break room and realized how wrong she was wrong as the room feel silent.

Alison broke the silence when she asked, "Who made your dress?"

"I'm wearing pants," Rory replied, as she glanced down at her outfit.

"For the gala on Friday," Alison asked shortly, "who was the designer?"

"Jessica McClintock," Rory said simply, deciding answering would be easier.

"Must be nice, and you just expect new jewelry with each dress?" Sam asked, thinking she must be the typical rich girl when it came to things like that.

"No!" Rory exclaimed, insulted at the implication.

"So you just happen to have a diamond necklace that included matching pink stones?"

"They were an anniversary gift from Logan six months ago," she defended.

"Must be easy to buy a girl's love when you can afford diamonds," Jason mumbled.

"That's not why he bought them!"

"No?"

"I didn't even want him to get me anything," Rory defended.

"So, this jewelry that you _'didn't want,'_ where'd he get it?" Alison asked, curious about what kind of quality it was.

"Harry Winston," Rory replied, before she could stop herself.

"Oh," Danielle whispered, for the first time truly speechless.

Not deterred, Alison asked, "So why don't you wear your fine jewels to work?"

"I wear what is professional and, besides my engagement ring, that doesn't involve bling," Rory said, hoping the sarcastic use of 'bling,' would move them away from the topic of her jewelry.

"So let me get this straight, you're marrying someone who's rich, takes you to glamorous parties, and buys you fine jewelry."

"Yes."

"You're family is wealthy as well?" Sue asked, remembering the names mentioned earlier.

"Yes," Rory said again.

"Why do you even work?" Danielle asked in disbelief.

"Because I want to," Rory said simply.

"At a job like this?" she asked incredulously.

"I like journalism."

"Is that how you got him to notice you? Pretend you're interested in the same industry he's an heir to?" Alison asked, then continued without giving Rory the chance to answer, "I have news for you honey, you can drop the act. You already have the ring on your finger."

"I wrote on my high school newspaper, which was long before I ever met Logan," Rory pointed out.

"Convenient for you," she replied, "to land the most eligible bachelor in your chosen field."

"That is not why I am with him."

"Where did you meet him?" Julie asked, mainly because she was truly curious.

"At Yale," Rory said simply.

"But _where_?" she asked again, stressing her point in an effort to get the answer she wanted.

"We crossed paths a few times on campus, but actually met at the paper."

"The paper?" Alison asked confused, "Why would you try to meet a guy there?"

"Yes, what are the odds I'd meet a fellow reporter in a newsroom. Absolutely shocking," Rory deadpanned.

"Why would he even take an interest in you? What could you possibly have to offer?" she asked, hoping to bother Rory.

Bri who had been quietly listening to the exchange said, "She doesn't have to explain it to you. She is allowed to have personal life."

Noticing the young woman for the first time, Sam asked, "So Bri, you've been in on this all along?"

"What no!" Rory said, jumping in to defend her friend.

"She seemed well aware of the truth when she called your mother," he shot back.

"She's dating your friend, he's rich too," Danielle added in.

"That doesn't mean she's been in on it all along!"

"No?" Sam asked unconvinced.

"No," Rory affirmed, "The first time we met was the same day I met the rest of you. I invited her to lunch with Finn and me, which is how they met. Why they decided to date is their own business."

"But how did she even find out who you were?" Jason challenged.

"I told her."

"Why only her?"

"We were becoming friends, and I felt bad lying to her so one day I decided to tell her," Rory announced, which silenced them for a minute.

"And she just forgave you like that?" Jason asked, snapping his fingers at the end of the question to emphasize his point.

"No," Bri replied.

"But you're friends now," he pointed out.

"Yes, but when she first told me, I was mad. I only listened to what she had to say because she promised I could yell as much as I wanted to once she was done."

"And did you?"

"No."

"Why not?" Danielle asked, hoping to gain some insight.

"She told me why she did it," Bri answered easily.

Sue then asked, "So why did you lie to us?"

"Didn't someone ask that this morning?" Rory said with an eye roll, becoming annoyed, then recited, "Because I wanted people to see me for my ability to write and not as Logan Huntzberger's fiancé."

"People only lie when they're guilty," Alison accused.

At the same time, Sam muttered, "Then write a book."

Rory heard these last comments and knew she wasn't going to win this battle, so took her lunch and walked back to her desk.

--

Rory was sitting at her desk eating when she decided to call Logan.

"Huntzberger," he answered.

"Hey Logan."

"Ace," he said, instantly happier, "How's your day going?"

"How many ways do you think I can explain why I used a penname?"

"I'm thinking at least few."

"It's so annoying! They're asking the same questions over and over," Rory said dramatically.

"Have they asked about anything else?"

"My clothes from Friday night," Rory answered.

"Why?"

"There was an article in the paper about the event," she explained quickly.

"Ah."

"That was bad enough, but they also saw a picture of Bri with Finn so they started in on her."

"How'd she handle it?" Logan asked, with growing concern.

"Okay, they were back focused on me before it got too bad, but I still feel bad that it happened at all."

Logan sighed, "She'll have to get use to it if she's going to date him."

"I know."

"Anything else?"

"You're buying my love with diamonds."

Logan just laughed and said, "If it were only that simple."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Logan joked, before turning serious, "So a stressful day?"

"I knew they would have questions, just surprised by some of them."

"Anything else you need to get off your chest?" Logan asked, hoping it would help.

"This one guy said if I wanted to be known for my writing and not marrying you, I should have written a book. A book Logan!"

"I heard you Ace," he assured her, "but what's wrong with that?"

"A book is not journalism."

"I know that, but I wouldn't think you, the lover of books, would be insulted at the suggestion."

"How many people write books that never get published?"

"I have no idea."

"A lot Logan. Besides, it was the way he said it, like I'd never be taken seriously, so I should just humor myself by writing a book."

"Want me to fire him?" Logan asked, hoping it would pull her out of her rant.

"What? No!" Rory said quickly, then chided, "Logan you can't just fire someone who annoys me."

"Why not? People do it all the time."

"Like who?"

"Emily."

"Logan, that's not nice," Rory defended.

"What? It's true. She fires maids all the time for no reason," Logan said, justifying his example.

"She always finds a way to make it a valid reason, even if she's being insane."

"I can manage that as well," Logan promised.

"Logan, you cannot fire him, remember what we talked about this morning?" she asked, growing more concerned.

"I remember just fine," Logan said then promised, "I was just joking. I can hear how stressed you are over the phone and wanted you to relax."

"That was so not the way to go about it!"

"I'm sorry. How about this, you ignore your wonderful co-workers and get back to work. Then, tonight, when you get home, I'll work on relaxing you."

"Fine," she sighed.

"Bye Ace."

"Bye Logan."

--

Rory took Logan's suggestion to heart, and when she finished her lunch, made herself get to work. She was finishing her research for the last article when her cell phone rang, "Hello."

"Rory, thank god you answered!" Steph exclaimed.

"What's wrong?"

"What are you doing after work?"

"I was planning on going home, why?"

"Can we meet up somewhere?"

"Sure is something wrong?"

"I just keep rethinking some things, and I need someone to talk to."

"Rethinking what? Not Colin?" Rory asked, shocked at the thought.

"No!" Steph practically yelled, then added, "It's about my job."

"Ah, work crisis, I can definitely relate."

"Did something happen?"

Rory let out a small laugh, "Just more of what I knew was coming. I'll fill you in when we meet up."

"So five thirty, same place as last time."

"Yup," Rory confirmed.

"Sounds like a plan, thanks Ror."

"Anytime," Rory said sincerely, and wrapped up their conversation. Before she went back to work, she called Logan. His voice mail picked up so Rory left a message telling him she was meeting Steph and wasn't sure when she'd get home, but not to worry.

--

Rory was only a few minutes late leaving work as she hailed a cab to take her to meet Steph. Once she arrived, she found Steph already seated at a table waiting anxiously.

Rory gave her a quick hug and then teased, "Today has just not been people's day."

"What?" Steph asked confused.

"When I got to work, Bri was already there. She was having a freak out of her own."

"Is everything okay?" Steph asked.

Rory looked over at her friend and then said, "If I tell you, you cannot tell the boys. Not any of them, not even Colin."

"I promise."

"Finn told Bri he loved her," Rory revealed as calmly as she could.

"Oh my god!" Steph squealed.

"I know, I was shocked too."

"So Finn and Bri are in love," Steph mused.

"Not quite."

"What do you mean? You said…"

"I know, but she didn't say it back."

"And this was the crisis?" Steph guessed.

"Yes. To make a long story short, she really likes him but is a bit overwhelmed."

"By what?"

"Apparently Finn told her how much he's worth on Friday night."

"He just told her?" Steph asked for clarification, talking about money directly to anyone outside their group was something Finn, or any of them, never did.

"Yeah."

"Wow," Steph said, unsure how to respond to that knowledge.

"I know," Rory agreed, knowing how surprised she was to find out Finn had told Bri.

"And, he told her he loves her?"

"Yeah," Rory confirmed.

"But she doesn't?" Steph asked, wanting to make sure she was following the story.

"I wouldn't say she doesn't, as much as I would say it's too soon for her to know," Rory replied, then added, "From what she told me, I think she's wary after everything that happened with her ex. She said she felt like there were things she didn't know about Finn, so I think she just needs to get to know him better before thinking about how she feels. And, as much as the money thing was a lot to digest, I think once she does, it will mean a lot to her that he was honest with her."

"Makes sense," Steph said with a nod, remembering how hard it was for Bri when she had told them about her history with her ex. There was a pause before Steph added, "I still can't believe Finn said that."

"He can't know that we know," Rory reminded her.

"And, I can't tell Colin or Logan," Steph recited, then whined, "You ruin all my fun."

"We cannot mock Finn about this."

"Why not?"

"Well, maybe we can, but not before Bri says it back. Think about how nervous he is, wondering if she'll ever say it back."

"Fine," Steph finally conceded, remembering how she felt after she told Colin that she loved him and was waiting for him to say it back.

"Good, now what is going on with you?"

"If I spend anymore time in that lab, I'm going to scream!"

"What? I thought you loved your job?"

"I like the research," Steph corrected.

"I'm confused, so you're gonna have to explain."

"Well, in college, I loved my classes."

"I remember."

"Right, and I still find it interesting, I even like the project."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I am not made to be holed up in a lab all day. I'm not Paris."

"She's gotten better," Rory defended.

"But you get my point?" Steph asked, knowing she did.

"Yes."

"It's not just the lack of talking, but I don't see anyone besides the people who work in the lab. And they aren't around because we all have our own space."

"Sounds very isolated."

"It is, and it was okay for a while, but now, I'm going stir crazy."

"So what do you want to do instead?"

"I haven't thought about it too much," Steph admitted, she'd been thinking so much about what she didn't like that she hadn't given much thought to what she would do instead.

"Well, do you want to find a different job in engineering? I'm sure there are jobs that won't have you in a lab."

"There are, but I never liked those aspects as much."

"Like what?"

"Most are working for companies who manufacture medical devices. And even if I wanted to work in that, which I don't, New York isn't really the place those jobs would be."

"So you want to get out of engineering all together?"

"I think so," Steph admitted, wondering how her friend would react.

Rory looked a little surprised, but asked, "Okay, so what do you want to do?"

"There are obvious things for my family, like being on the board for charities or non-profit groups."

"True," Rory said, not sure what else to say.

"But, those aren't really jobs. They're things to do, and good things at that, but not a job."

Nodding in agreement, Rory asked, "Any idea what you may want to do?"

"Something where I see people."

"I figured as much."

"I did double major in psychology, and I'm not saying I want to back to school to become a psychologist or anything, just that I liked working in those types of environments."

"Anything in particular?"

"For a class project, a group of us volunteered to mentor high school girls. I really liked that," Steph said thinking back on the time she spent there.

"I don't remember that," Rory pointed out curious.

"It was before we met, the illusive Fiji year."

"Makes sense."

"I was taking a psych class for an elective and was bored, the boys being gone and all, so I volunteered. It sounded interesting and would take up some time."

"And?"

"At first, they seemed a bit skeptical, that we couldn't relate to them. They assumed that since we went to Yale, we were perfect children, never stepping a toe out of line."

Rory had a good laugh at that, "And since it went well, I assume they found out differently."

"They did," Steph confirmed.

"So why not do something like that?" Rory asked.

"Being a volunteer mentor is not a job."

"I know that. But, there are a lot of programs that work with teenagers. You could do some mentoring, but I'm sure they have other opportunities as well."

"There would definitely be people," Steph joked.

"There would," Rory agreed.

"Well, I'd have to look into it and talk to Colin," Steph said, but was seriously considering the idea.

"Of course."

"Good!" Steph said, feeling better now that she had talked about what was on her mind. Then, she remembered Rory had mentioned her day and asked, "So what happened with your day?"

From there, Rory explained the various forms of questioning she went through before the pair finally left to head home.

--

Rory walked into the apartment, dropped her purse by the door and called, "Logan?"

"Kitchen."

Rory walked into the kitchen and gave him a quick kiss and said, "That smells good, what is it?"

"That is for you to find out later."

"A surprise?"

"Yes, now go change, I'm sure you're dying to."

"Yes, sir," she teased and then walked to the bedroom looking forward to getting out of not only her shoes, but also her work clothes. Soon enough, she was standing in her underwear and going through her drawer looking for something more comfortable to throw on.

Suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her waist and a kiss placed on her shoulder. "Hey Ace."

"Logan, you scared me."

"Sorry," he said smoothly, then kissed her shoulder again before trailing his lips up her neck.

"What about dinner," she asked, loving the attention, but hoping to actually eat whet she smelled earlier.

"I just had to put it in the oven and set the timer," he assured her and ran his hands down her stomach.

Rory let out a sigh and let her body relax into his. Feeling her do this, Logan smiled and said, "Why don't you lay down."

"Mmm, this is better," she mumbled and leaned into his body further.

"I promise you'll like this too," he said as he pulled away from her and led her to the bed.

As they neared, Rory looked confused and asked, "Why's there a towel on the bed?"

"To keep the comforter clean," he said, not explaining further.

"From what?"

"What I'm about to do to you."

"Logan, we have sex on the bed all the time."

"That's not what I'm talking about," he said with an eye roll.

As she lay down, she asked, "But it's dirty?"

"Yes," he answered, but seeing the look she gave, he added, "not like that!"

"Let's see what you have up your sleeve," she teased.

"Roll over," he instructed as he walked into the bathroom.

"Why?"

"Just roll over Ace," he yelled from around the door, while he stripped down to his boxers and gathered the supplies he had put under the sink.

"Fine," she whined, but did as instructed.

When Logan walked back into the room, he walked around the room placing and lighting candles then turned off the ceiling light before climbing on the bed.

Rory had turned her head and watched as Logan emerged from the bathroom, wearing only his boxers and carrying a bag. She was surprised as he lit candles and was about to ask what he was doing when he straddled her body and moved his hands to unhook her bra, lifting her just enough to discard it off the bed. The next thing she felt were his hands, now wet, coming into contact with her upper back.

Rory let out a deep sigh at the sensation, then smelled something and asked, "Logan, what's that smell?"

"That would be lavender."

"From what?"

"Massage oil," Logan informed her, while working his hands over her shoulders and neck.

"Where'd you get it?" she asked, now noticing the candles were the same scent.

"I bought them on my way home from work."

Rory let herself enjoy the ministrations of his hands as the traveled down to her lower back while working all the places in between. After a few minutes, Rory let out a moan and confessed, "This is amazing."

"So my plan worked?" He asked, while he kneaded her lower back, all the way to her panty line.

"Plan?" she groaned.

"To make you relax, is it working?"

"This is good," Rory replied.

Logan laughed as he worked back up to her neck, "So is everything okay with Steph?"

"It will be," Rory assured him.

"Anything I should be concerned about?" he wondered, now massaging her left shoulder and working down her arm.

"No, she just needed someone to talk to," Rory said. This was mostly the truth, but she didn't want to say anything to Logan since she was fairly sure Steph hadn't mentioned anything to Colin yet.

"How about your day, did your afternoon go any better than the morning?" he asked, now taking her hand in his and kneading.

"If by better you mean, did I successfully avoid people, then why yes, it was much better."

"Good." Seeing she was more relaxed at this point, Logan thought it safe to ask a few more questions, "What did they seem most irritated about?"

Rory paused, enjoying the feeling of him lightly stroking his way up her arm before moving to start the same process on the other one, before answering, "Well, a few people seemed focused on how I got the job, and a few think Bri is in on it as well."

"And what did you tell them?"

"The truth, that I had never met her before I started working there, and it was my choice to tell her."

"How did they take that?" he asked, working her bicep.

"There wasn't much they could say, but time will tell," Rory said truthfully, then, thinking about everything else that had been said, asked, "They asked about my bling."

"Bling?" he asked, his hands actually stopping.

"Yeah."

"Really, bling?"

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"It's just not part of your normal vocab," Logan admitted, and resumed his ministration, but asked one more time, "Did you actually say bling?"

"Yes!" Rory groaned, then explained, "But only because they asked why I don't wear fancy jewelry to work everyday. What kind of question is that? I only wear that when I'm getting dressed up, the mere idea was ridiculous."

"I agree: I'm just sad that I missed you saying bling."

"What are the chances you'll let that go?"

"Not very good," he promised, then returned to the conversation, "Do you think things will get better?"

"As long as they don't invade my desk, I'll be fine," Rory said honestly, all the while lost in the feeling of his hands on her upper back.

"You know you'll have to actually interact with them again at some point, right?"

Rory tried to nod her head against the mattress, but it didn't work, so said, "I know, I'm hoping if I can lay low for a while the novelty of it will die down."

"Fair enough," Logan agreed, happy at how well he succeeded. When he started, her entire back was tense, and it was clear how much more relaxed it was now. Now that she was, he finished up and moved off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Rory asked, she had been thoroughly enjoying his treatment.

"To get phase two ready, just relax until I get back."

Rory lay on the bed with her eyes closed and heard water coming from the bathroom. She was starting to drift off to sleep, when she felt Logan sit on the bed next to her.

"Ace, you still with me?"

"Yeah," she said sleepily.

"Okay, let's go."

"But the bed wants me to stay here, it will get lonely if I leave."

"We'll be back eventually," he promised, and moved to help coax her up.

Giving in, she let herself be dragged out of bed and walked towards the bathroom. When Logan led her in, she saw the shower was already running. She had stopped just outside of it when she felt Logan tug her panties down, so at his nudge, stepped out of them.

Quickly, Logan removed his boxers, and seeing her questioning look, whispered, "Have to get that oil off you Ace," then walked them both under the spray.

Once there, Logan watched Rory wet her hair so he picked up the shampoo, squeezing some onto his palm. He worked it into her hair, but then used his fingers on her scalp, giving her a head massage. Rory rested her head on his chest as he continues for a few minutes, until finally he motioned for her to lean her head back under the spray and rinse it out.

He repeated the process with the conditioner, but once he had worked it into her hair, let it stay while he found her body wash to start cleaning off the oil. Soon, she was clean and began rinsing her hair and body.

Once they were done and out of the water, Logan wrapped her in a bathrobe, told her to dry off, put on the pajamas he had bought her the first time they went away for the weekend and get comfortable in bed.

Rory followed his instructions; everything had been amazing so far. After a while, the door open, and she saw Logan walk in carrying two plates of food. He set them down on the nightstand and disappeared again. This time, he returned quicker, carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses.

He poured them each a glass and handed her one, letting them each enjoy a sip before handing her a plate. Rory set the glass down next to her side of the bed so she could eat. After a few bites, she complimented, "This is amazing, did you make this?"

"No," Logan confessed.

Rory laughed, and said, "Good, I mean I know you can cook, but this would take so much time, I'd feel bad."

"Glad you like it, I'll be sure to pass your compliments onto Sookie next time I see her," Logan said truthfully.

"This was what she sent us home with?" Rory asked surprised.

"It is," he answered.

After they each ate a bit more, Rory asked, "So now that I'm relaxed, which I promise I am, how was your day?"

"I interviewed three people today and will have another two tomorrow."

"What's the position?"

"We are in need of a senior vice president of circulation."

"Sounds riveting."

"Oh it is," Logan teased.

"And how were they?"

"The first one seemed good."

"And Huntzbergers don't settle for good," she joked.

"Okay, he was better than good. I would feel comfortable giving him the position. He was definitely better than the other two, but I'm still waiting to see what the other two are like."

"So what was wrong with the other interviewees you had?"

"The one almost put me to sleep."

"That isn't saying much Logan, you fell asleep at a world class play!"

"That was one time!"

"I'm just saying you've been known to get bored during things most people would not."

"Maybe, but this guy went on for almost ten minutes on the various methods he likes to use to track circulation."

"Okay, that would be boring," Rory conceded.

"Thank you!"

"What about the other interview?" Rory asked, now curious about what else had happened.

"A bit crazy," he said.

"Crazy how?"

"I mean she could be fully qualified and capable for the position, but I would have no idea."

"What did she do?" Rory asked, becoming more interested in the story.

"Well, first, she was wearing this haute couture style suit."

"Well, some could be appropriate."

"I admit it could have been worse."

"So what was the problem?"

"I asked her how everything had gone so far, she said okay except that her new Gucci shoes were hurting her feet. So I asked how she felt around the staff and she said she that some seemed jealous of her haute couture, Prada suit because obviously she must know someone who got her the outfit."

"That was all she talked about?" Rory asked, figuring this would have been the person to put him to sleep.

"She also said she saw my briefcase and noticed it was Burberry, and while it was very nice, she could help me find something more, 'this season.' Which was bizarre enough, but funny since Honor bought it for me, and I was sure it's Armani."

"It is, Honor told me about it," Rory answered, and took another bite of food.

"Then to top it off, she started telling me how cultured she was. She started going off about some Opera she had just seen, but then complained about how it wasn't in English."

Rory laughed at this and pointed out, "Complaining about an Opera not being in English is anything but cultured."

"I know, quite ironic."

"What was her deal?"

"I think she was trying to impress me."

Rory had to laugh, "I must say that's a different approach."

"It was, but it was bizarre."

"Okay, so you had okay guy, boring dude, and crazy girl. What else happened?"

"The afternoon was much more tame, just a few meetings with editors and VP's, then a short call with my dad."

Rory asked a few more questions while they finished their meals. Once they were done, Logan cleared their plates and when he came back put in a DVD, refilled their glasses and sat down next to her.

Rory was curious what movie he had picked, but as it came on the screen she squealed, "You hate this movie!"

"I'm aware," he replied dryly, glancing as the opening scene of _Dirty Dancing _came on the TV.

Rory knew he only put it in because of the day she had. She turned to him and gave a big smile then kissed him and exclaimed, "Thank you," before leaning back onto his chest to watch.

--

**_A/N: We really enjoyed this chapter and hope you did as well, but please send us a review and let us know!_**

**_As always, check the blog for updates. I also wanted to say something quickly here in response to some discussion posts (and I should be posting something longer on the blog in the next few days). First, when Christi started as my beta, the first thing we agreed on was that ending the fic with the wedding was to cliché. So while I won't say where it's ending, I promise it's not with the wedding. Second, while this chapter showed a reaction from Rory's co-workers, this was the initial response and we plan on having the story develop more with time. With that, keep in mind the chapters will bounce between their personal lives and work, I know different people favor different parts, but overall there is a good balance between the two. Sorry if that was a wordy explanation, it's late and my brain is a bit fuzzy. _**


	32. Foie Gras

--

The next day Rory returned to work, aware that there were still whispers going on about her. But, by the end of the day they had established an unspoken truce: She stayed at her desk, and they didn't bother her. She knew it couldn't last like that forever, but luckily her assignments this week did not require her to work with anyone, not even Bri. The week progressed slowly, and without major incident, but by Wednesday afternoon, the weekend couldn't come fast enough. Lunch was miserable, and she found herself going out for lunch everyday either alone or with Bri. The only upside was that she didn't have any distractions to keep her from getting her work done. By Friday morning, she was itching to leave work to enjoy a relaxing weekend and see her family for her birthday.

Logan's week was much better. After finishing up the interviews; they hired the first man he had interviewed on Monday since the two he interviewed on Tuesday were just as bad as boring guy and crazy girl. The man had accepted the offer and was set to start in 3 weeks, given that he needed to put in his two week notice at the company he was currently with. Once that was taken care of, Logan spent two days at _The Village Voice_, getting the new servers up and running. They hoped the new servers would stop the mass outages and random crashes the paper had been experiencing recently and were just lucky to get them up quickly enough that it didn't have an impact on their daily publications.

--

Friday afternoon, Rory arrived home shortly after five and thought she heard the printer going in the study. Walking in that direction, she called out, "Logan?"

"In here, Ace," he replied.

She reached the doorway, surprised to find Logan in the study on his computer. "Hey," she greeted, but getting curious, asked, "What are you doing?"

"Finishing up some paperwork," he replied, and then turned from his desk to stand.

"Why didn't you just finish it at the office?" she asked, as he walked towards her. Normally, he would stay at the office until he was done, especially if it was still this early.

He stopped in front of her and vaguely said, "Needed to be here when you got home."

Suspicious, Rory asked, "Why?"

"Be ready to leave by five thirty," he informed her, then kissed her quickly and walked out the room.

Rory started after him and decided to goad him, "You must not be a very good reporter: That was when, not why."

"I'm a fine reporter," he said with a smirk, "which means I also know better than to talk to the press."

Rory, not missing a beat, offered, "You'll be an anonymous source."

This made Logan actually laugh and say, "The information, not the source, is what needs to be kept out of your hands."

Rory knew he wasn't going to tell her anything, so decided to casually reason, "Well, it can't be for my birthday. Because, you know, it's not til tomorrow," hoping she would see some sort of reaction.

Logan didn't flinch, instead impatiently said, "I know when your birthday is Ace."

"You're up to something," she told him.

"Me?" he asked with the most innocent smile he could manage.

"Yes, you," she said with an eye roll, then added, "and don't try to deny it, I know trouble when I see it."

Wanting to distract her from asking more questions, he looked at his watch and said, "The clock's ticking Ace, 19 minutes until we leave."

Logan's statement clicked in her mind, and she started to panic, "That's not enough time, I don't even know what I should wear: Pants, skirt, dress…"

"I put an outfit on the bed," he assured, and when she looked like she might make another comment, he teased, "18 minutes."

This caused Rory to scurry towards their room, rushing through the process of getting ready. A few minutes after five thirty, Rory emerged wearing black pants and a three quarter length baby blue shirt, her pea coat in hand.

She noticed that while she was in the bathroom getting ready, Logan had changed into pants and a sweater. Digging for more information, she asked, "Logan, do I really need a coat? It's not that cold out."

Logan knew what she was doing so just said, "You'll want it at some point."

Rolling her eyes, she kept it in her hands aware that he wouldn't steer her wrong. Logan took a moment to look her over, kiss her, and offer, "You look amazing."

"Thank you," she said sincerely. Then, her patience began to wear thin, and she commanded, "Lead me to my surprise."

"What makes you think it's a surprise?"

"Duh," she said dramatically, "I don't know where we are going; therefore, surprise."

Logan laughed and led them out of the apartment to the car he had waiting. The city traffic was bad, but they made it to the 30th Street helipad a few minutes past 6. Seeing where they were, Rory asked, "A helicopter? Logan, where are we going? You know we have lunch with the family tomorrow, we can't fly off to places unknown."

"I am well aware of what we have on our schedule, so stop worrying and get in the helicopter," he chided her.

Knowing he was right, Rory followed Logan to the _HP_ helicopter, put her coat on, and got in. While Rory got settled in her seat, Logan talked briefly with the pilot he hired especially for the night instead of having the normal pilot take them. When he walked back, he handed her a headset, already wearing his own, and then sat down in the seat next to her. Rory stayed silent as they took off, curious which direction they would head, hoping it would clue her in to where he was taking her.

She was surprised when they headed back towards downtown. Confused, Rory glanced at Logan who was slightly leaning over her looking out the window as the city passed below. Finally, she broke and asked, "Where are we going? I mean we had to drive to the helipad, couldn't we have just driven to another place in the city."

"A car can't fly over the city," Logan pointed out.

"I'm aware, and I know you hate traffic, but you really aren't flying us from part of Manhattan to another are you?

"Would I do that?" he asked in a mocking tone.

Rory raised her eyebrows at him and said, "Depends how long the backup is."

Logan laughed and said, "I thought you'd like to see the city from the sky, watch the sunset, just something different."

Rory glanced out the window and said, "It is beautiful, but why not take me tomorrow?"

"I wasn't sure when we'd get done with the family, and you'd be more suspicious. Being a day early makes it easier to execute the 'surprise' part of 'surprise present.'"

Rory was cut off from making a retort when the pilot announced, "We're coming up on Central Park. We'll be flying to the north end before continuing over the park to the south and start seeing the landmarks."

At his announcement, Rory promptly looked out her window and started taking in the sites. Logan, happy to see that she seemed to be enjoying the trip, reached into his coat pocket and handed her a digital camera. He had brought it knowing she would want to take pictures. From there, the pilot talked while taking them over all the major sites: Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Radio City Music Hall, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building as Rory tried to get a picture of each one.

As they approached Times Square, Rory got excited, leaning even closer to the window and telling Logan to look. This resulted in Logan leaning over her shoulder and placing his hand on Rory's hip, caressing it lightly, to look with her at the city that was slowly becoming illuminated as the sun sank.

"Logan, look it's the _Times_," Rory said as she pointed.

"I know what the Times building looks like Ace, I go there almost everyday."

"But this is from the air, it's completely different."

"Of course."

Rory stayed quiet for a minute, before taking a picture and saying, "It's the steaming cup of soup."

"With real steam," Logan commented.

Rory nodded and then asked, "You know it used to be a cup of coffee. How cool would a cup of coffee that big be?"

"What would you do with that much coffee, swim in it?"

"And ruin the coffee!" Rory asked, offended at the idea.

"You know there wasn't actually coffee in it," he commented.

"Don't tell my mom that, she might kill you."

"And I repeat, what would you do with it?"

"Drink it," Rory said seriously.

"It is not humanly possible to drink that…" Logan started. When Rory turned to him and raised her eyebrow, he looked at her and apologized, "I'm sorry; I forgot who I was talking about for a minute."

Rory gave a triumphant smile and said, "Thank you."

Laughing, Logan added, "I keep forgetting. Neither you nor your mother are human when it comes to coffee consumption."

"Hey!" she yelled in mock horror.

They continued talking about Times Square, the light and energy apparent even from the air, until they came up on the World Trade Center site. Rory had seen it from the ground and in pictures, but this was completely different and rendered her speechless. After that, they flew out and circled the Statue of Liberty, as they did Rory commented, "It looks so different at eye level."

"You can look right into her face," Logan added.

"And the texture in the clothes, it looks so natural," Rory observed, in awe of the legendary statue from this distance.

They completed the circle, seeing Ellis Island as well, then flew over the Brooklyn Bridge. As she looked at the bridge filled with headlights from the traffic trying to cross the bridge, she heard the pilot say that was the last site, so Rory was surprised when the helicopter continued to fly along the East River. The longer they flew, the more concerned she became, "Logan, where are we going?"

"The ride's over, so I would say were going to the landing site."

Rory wasn't sure what was going on, but remained quiet for a few more minutes. When she felt the helicopter loose elevation, she glanced out of the window. She realized the sun was pretty much gone from the night sky, it was dark, and she couldn't see anything resembling a landing pad, in fact all she could see was water. When this piece of information set in, she began to panic.

"Logan, the helicopter is getting lower!"

"That's what happens when you land," he commented.

"I know that Logan," her voice not sounding the least bit amused, "but we're still over water!"

"Is that a problem," he asked innocently.

"Yes!"

"Ace, calm down."

"Logan I can't be calm, what's going to happen?"

"Do you see me panicking?"

"No," she admitted, finally looking at him.

"And that doesn't make you think that perhaps I feel safe so there is nothing to be afraid of?"

"Logan, not everything you've done is safe. You made me jump off scaffolding that was probably seven stories high!"

"And you landed just fine, remember?"

"You tested the jump with potatoes, what did you use for this? A toy plane in the bathtub? This helicopter is not made for water landings."

Logan started to sense actual fear in her voice so he took Rory's hand in both of his, stroking her hand with both of his thumbs, and said, "You're safe."

Rory managed to nod, but gripped his hand even tighter. Logan moved his closer hand to rub her back, in what he hoped was a soothing action. After a few moments, he felt her grip relax a bit, but it was still strong.

When the helicopter was extremely low, Rory chanced another look out the window. When she did, she saw a fairly large boat in the water. Shocked, she said, "There's a boat."

"It's not bath tub tested," he assured her.

Rory visibly calmed down, but kept a firm hold on his hand. Finally, the helicopter landed on the forward deck, and after a few moments, Logan was given the clear from the pilot to exit. They climbed down, and after entering the cabin, they saw the helicopter take off again and head back to shore.

By this point, Rory was extremely curious, "We're on a boat."

"A yacht," Logan clarified.

"This isn't your family's yacht Logan," Rory observed.

"No, it's not," Logan confirmed.

"Do you know whose yacht it is?" Rory asked, thinking back to the circumstances surrounding her arrest.

Giving her a slightly cocky smirk and having a good idea about what she was thinking, he said, "Of course, I wouldn't expect you to get arrested twice for the same offense…booo-ring."

"Where's the criminal creativity?" she asked sarcastically.

"I know," he replied, seriously.

Rory turned back to the issue at hand, "Have I met this mystery owner?"

"Patience, Ace."

"I've told you, it's so not one of my virtues," she whined.

"I promise I know the owner, and I promise they know we're here, now, will you come with me."

Rory reluctantly took his hand as he led her to the elevator and went up two decks. As they did this, Rory observed, "This is a really big yacht."

"It's over 600 feet," he supplied.

"You planned more than the helicopter ride," she stated.

"Look at you with all your deductions tonight," he teased.

Logan quickly led Rory towards the correct room, thankful it was easy to get to without having been on the yacht before. Once they arrived at the door, Logan opened the door to a dark room, gesturing for Rory to walk in first. Rory walked a few steps in, then stopped. Before she could ask any questions, the lights flipped on and a yell of "Happy Birthday!" sounded.

After Rory got over her surprise, she took in the group assembled: Lorelai, Luke, Honor, Josh, Colin, Steph, Finn, Bri, Lane, Zach, Paris and Doyle were all there. Smiling, she ran up to her mom first, giving her a hug, before saying hi to everyone who was there.

When she finished, she looked at Logan and asked, "You planned all this?"

"Happy Birthday," he said with a smile.

"Thank you!" she offered happily and gave him a none-too-short kiss.

The sound of "Ewwww" broke them apart. Rory turned to see Finn and her mom pointing at them and making _yucky_ faces.

Logan rolled his eyes, grabbed Rory around the waist, and pulled her in for a deep kiss. Rory was surprised but gave in when she realized it had silenced the peanut gallery.

They were brought out of their kiss once again by a voice, but this time it was a harsh one, "You know Huntzberger's mouth is dirtier than a dog's. A dog, Gilmore! They lick themselves!"

Rory sighed, leave it to Paris to not be deterred by that kind of display, "Paris, that's true about all human mouths, not Logan's specifically."

Paris gave Rory a smile and said, "But it made you come up for air, didn't it?"

"And, thank you for that, Gellar," Logan said sarcastically. Even though he knew Paris's dislike for him had diminished greatly over the years, they still took friendly jabs at each other.

"Consider it my public service."

Now that their little scene was over, Rory said, "You didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to do something for your birthday."

"It's tomorrow," she teased him again.

"I know, but look at how surprised you are."

"Because you're a day early!"

"It worked didn't it?"

"What about next year, what happens if now I expect something on the twelfth."

"Maybe I'll do it on the eleventh," he shot back.

"So, in twenty years my birthday party won't even be the same month as my actual birthday," Rory challenged.

"I guess I'll just have to find other ways to keep it a surprise."

Interrupting, Honor asked, "How was your helicopter ride out?" trying to break the bantering between the two since everyone knew Rory and Logan would just get more and more sickeningly sweet the longer they continued.

"Seeing the city was beautiful."

"We only saw a few things, but it was so cool," Lane admitted.

"You flew out here too?" Rory asked a bit more confused.

"The yacht left the harbor at six, so with people driving in from out of town, flying out was the easiest way to make it work."

"No one was on board when it embarked?"

"Finn, Bri, and Maddy were," Steph answered.

"That's it?" Rory asked surprised that Colin and Steph hadn't joined them.

Finn decided to answer, "It's my yacht Love."

"A bit large, don't you think?" Rory commented, thinking the yacht was ridiculously big for personal use.

"It's for the company. We ordered it months ago, but last week it was brought up here from Florida for me to look over and take out before signing the final agreement."

"So you've taken it out before?" Rory asked surprised, she had never heard anything mentioned about it.

"I've been busy, but when Logan called about your birthday, I knew it would be up here so I suggested we use it. Thought I'd kill two birds with one boomerang."

"Boomerang?" Luke asked, before anyone else could.

"Australians are civilized people, stoning is barbaric," Finn said as if he were offended by the implication. "Besides, that would be an inefficient method of hunting."

"What will you use it for once you finish the sale?" Rory asked, moving back to the yacht.

"They'll take it to Australia and add it to our fleet. We're going to use it for private group luxury excursions to the _Great Barrier Reef_ and to rent for private or corporate events."

Rory nodded, the yacht would be perfect for that. Finn saw her looking around the room and promised, "In a bit, I'll give you and Logan a tour if you want. I showed everyone else around while we were waiting for you."

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Rory joked then asked, "So, what's the plan?"

"First, we're going to have dinner," Logan announced.

"Thank god!" Lorelai exclaimed, "I'm starving. I haven't eaten since lunch because Luke wouldn't stop on the drive here."

"We were coming for dinner, why would you need to eat at five thirty?" Luke asked.

"I'm starving too," Rory said, hoping to eat soon.

"Finn, lead the way," Logan announced.

The group made their way into a dining area and sat around a large table while Finn went to the kitchen to let the staff know they were ready to eat. After returning, Finn went to the bar and made drinks for everyone while Rory started telling them more about the helicopter ride.

"Times Square looked so cool," she exclaimed.

"All the lights, totally rad," Zach agreed with a nod.

"The LCD screens made it easy to spot the _Toys R Us_ store," Honor supplied.

"LCD screens? Like TVs? Why would you put TV screens all over a building?" Lane asked.

"Because you can: People remember it and come to see it when they're visiting the city," Logan said, "besides, it matches the other things around it better that way."

"They even have a Ferris Wheel inside," Lorelai said excited, "That's almost as cool as the mall with the rollercoaster."

"The Mall of America?" Colin asked.

This caused Steph to turn in shock towards him, "You know a mall?"

Colin rolled his eyes, "Two words: _Mighty Ducks_."

"What?" Steph asked not seeing the connection.

"In the movie, they go there," Colin defended, then added, "I was a kid, all the guys watched it."

Rory laughed at Colin's statement before asking, "What else did you see on your flight here?"

"Rockefeller Center," Steph answered.

"The golden statue and fountain in the plaza, the flags from all the UN countries as well," Paris specified.

"We got to see Radio City Music Hall, but we couldn't make out Christies," Lorelai added, wishing they would have been able to see the famous auction house.

While they continued talking, the food was brought out. Things quieted down as they began to eat, but eventually Bri asked, "What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Lunch with our families, but after that, I'm not sure."

"Logan?" Steph asked suspiciously.

"Stephanie?" he retorted, mimicking her tone.

"What are you doing for Rory's birthday tomorrow?"

"Steph," Rory cut in, "he planned tonight. This is a great birthday surprise; he doesn't need to do anything else."

"Logan?" Steph repeated, sure he had something else planned.

"Listen to the lady of honor," he said with a smirk, causing Steph to send him a glare.

--

After dinner, Bri excused herself while the rest of the group moved to a lounge. Finn took up the roll of bartender and was having fun when Lane and Zach asked if they could explore the yacht some. Of course, he said yes, but it reminded him that he needed to show Rory and Logan around. They left a few minutes later, and he walked them through the yacht telling them it has 17 apartments on board as well as a penthouse. As he talked, they passed both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a cinema area, gymnasium, well-being center, sauna, Jacuzzi, and steam rooms, all of which he pointed out.

Once Finn had finished showing them around, they walked around outside on the main deck before beginning to return to the lounge.

When Rory realized they were heading back, she asked, "Finn, can I talk to you?"

"Sure Love," he replied and stopped.

Seeing Logan stop as well, Rory gave him a look. He got the hint and said, "I'll see you back up stairs?"

Rory nodded and watched him walk away. When he disappeared around the corner, she turned to Finn and asked, "Is Bri okay?"

"Why?"

"She was really quiet at dinner."

"She doesn't know everyone as well as you do," Finn pointed out.

"I know, but that wasn't it."

Finn knew what she meant and finally admitted, "I think this was just a final shock."

"This? My birthday party?" Rory asked, trying to figure out how that could be shocking.

"The yacht," he corrected.

"Oh," Rory said quietly, that made a lot more sense as she thought back to the conversation she had with Bri on Monday.

Finn knew Rory was just worried so he tried to explain, "I think it's like someone telling you they have a million marbles… You can try to imagine how big of a pile it would be, but no matter how hard you try to prepare yourself for when you see it, it's still a shit load of marbles. This had the same shock factor, made it real."

"Do you think she's okay?"

Finn thought about her question and then decided he really needed a second opinion about what happened so said, "I think so…I hope so…I just don't know. Love, can I tell you what happened, and then you tell me what you think?"

"Okay, but don't skip over things if you want an accurate assessment," she said with a smile.

--

_Finn's car pulled up to the dock, and his driver stopped so Finn, Bri, and Maddy could exit. The three stepped out of the car while the driver went to get their bags, then they started towards the water, but Maddy froze, halting their progress._

_Bri turned and crouched by her daughter and asked, "What's wrong Sweetie?"_

"_What's that?" she asked pointing at the different yachts lined up._

"_Those are boats; remember Finn said we were going on a boat?"_

"_No triangle," she said, looking unsure at the yachts._

_Finn was listening to the conversation and asked, "Triangle?"_

_Bri explained, "A sail, we were reading a book about sailing to get ready for the weekend, and all the pictures had the triangle sails."_

"_Ah," Finn acknowledged, then crouched down to be closer to Maddy, "Baby Doll, you know how your clothes look different. Sometimes, you wear pants, but today you have on a pretty dress?" Maddy nodded, but was still looking out at the water, so Finn kept talking, "Well, boats don't all look the same either."_

"_Okay," she said, and Finn stood up to continue walking, but still Maddy didn't move._

_Seeing her hesitation, Finn bent down and picked her up. Now that she was eye level to him, he pouted and asked, "Don't you want to see my boat?"_

_She nodded, but wrapped her arms around his neck not wanting to be set down yet. Finn looked at Bri who gave a small smile, telling Finn that Maddy was fine so he led them down the docks to the correct slip. As the yacht came into view, Finn looked pleased, but Bri just gasped, and finally said, "That's not a yacht, it's a cruise ship."_

"_It's a yacht," Finn assured her, then jokingly added, "the company we got it from says so."_

_Bri didn't find it amusing, but followed Finn as he greeted by the VP from the yachting company who led them onto the ship. He turned to the couple after they all made it onto the yacht and asked, "What would you like to see first?"_

"_The penthouse," Finn answered, thinking that his driver could drop the bags off and then be on his way. The man didn't reply, but led them through the halls._

_Once they reached the room and the driver set down the bags, Finn asked for a minute to get settled before going to see the rest of the yacht. _

_Finn looked down at Maddy, who was still in his arms, and asked, "You okay Baby Doll?"_

"_House?" she asked._

"_No, this is my boat," he tried to explain._

"_House," she said stubbornly._

"_Remember when we visited Finn at his apartment Sweetie," Bri chimed in, but Maddy just shook her head no. Bri sighed, it had been over a month ago._

_Finn just chuckled at Bri's face and asked, "Can you feel the room moving?"_

"_Yes."_

_Hearing this, Finn walked over to the wall sized window. Pointing out of it, he asked her, "See the water moving?"_

_Maddy nodded to him, so he continued, "We move because we're on the water, and it is moving."_

"_Boat!" she said happily, remembering the story._

"_Right, and even though it may look like a house from the inside, we're floating on the water, so it's a boat. It looks like a house because we can sleep here and have fun," Finn tried to explain in the simplest terms he could._

_Maddy looked at him for a minute before sticking her tongue out at him, but then saying, "Okay," and wiggling in his arms until he set her down. Judging from her reaction, Finn was fairly sure she didn't really understood, but she was glued to the window. Bri came over and gave her some goldfish as a snack. As Maddy was eating, Bri walked over to Finn knowing that they needed to talk alone since they hadn't seen each other since last Friday night._

_He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head before asking, "You alright?"_

"_It's just really big. I know you said we were going out on your yacht, and I may not be an expert on yachts, but this is really big," Bri commented. She had spent a lot of time thinking about Finn while he was out of town. If she had decided nothing else, it was that his money shouldn't be an issue, but until now, she didn't fully understand what he could afford._

"_It's for my family's company, the one we have for personal use is just over 100 feet; this is over 600," he explained before continuing to tell her what they were using it for. When he was done, he said, "I know we need to talk, but I have to get shown around the boat so we can leave the dock. Will you be okay until I get back?"_

"_Yeah, Maddy seems to be enjoying herself at the window," Bri assured while nodding and glancing over at her daughter._

"_Okay," he said, then kissed her again and left the penthouse to be shown around. _

_As he left, she noticed that he only took Rory's and Logan's bags with him, implying she and Maddy were staying here with him. Wondering what the sleeping arrangements would be, she decided to look around the rooms. She was in an open sitting room, which had a small kitchen and larger eating area attached. She walked across the room, to the hallway, and found it led to a bathroom, bedroom, and master bedroom. Walking in the master bedroom, she saw a decent sized closet and another bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub. Bri walked back into the hallway wondering if Finn thought she'd sleep with Maddy or him. _

_--_

_Bri was sitting on the couch when Finn returned, the pending sleeping arrangements still on her mind, but when she saw him, she knew there were other things they needed to discuss first. _

_Finn looked over and saw Maddy was now at the table coloring in her book and asked Bri, "Do you want to take her down to the deck to watch as we depart?"_

_Bri sighed, anxious to talk, but knew Maddy would love it, "Sure, let me get her coat."_

_Finn thought then said, "Bring her dinner too, if she likes it outside, we can talk while she eats," wanting her to know he hadn't forgotten about their conversation. After she grabbed some things to take down for Maddy, the three walked down to the main deck._

_Bri set the things down on a table and saw Finn pick up Maddy so she could see over the rail. Soon the boat started to move away from the dock, so Finn said, "Now, we wave and say bon voyage."_

"_Why?" she asked before he could start doing it himself._

"_Because that's what people do when they go out on a boat."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because it's fun," he offered._

"_Why?" she asked again causing Finn to think to try and come up with an answer._

_Seeing this, Bri giggled, "Sweetie, you should do it with me," and started waving herself._

_Picking up on her idea, Finn waved as well and yelled, "Bon voyage."_

_Maddy started laughing and waving, saying, "Bye bye."_

_Finn heard this and looked at her, "Can you say bon voyage."_

"_On va-oge," she attempted, still giggling and waving at the disappearing docks._

_They stood watching the shore, and as they got further out, they started to see more boats. Maddy was staring in awe of everything, but then pointed excitedly, "Mommy, boat!"_

_Bri had to smile at her, but tried to explain one more time. Pointing out to the water around them, she said, "These are all boats."_

_Apparently, it was to no avail because Maddy shook her head and pointed at another sailboat and said, "Boat."_

_Finn rolled his eyes, but leaned over to Bri to say, "You should have picked a book with more than one type of boat."_

"_I didn't think about," Bri replied, smiling at the happy look on Maddy's face._

_They walked around the deck until Maddy asked for dinner, so Bri took her back to the table. Once Bri got there, she looked up at Finn, who gestured for her to come over to the where he was standing. She finished setting out the dinner she had packed for Maddy and then walked over to him. _

_Finn watched her walk over and once she reached him, knew he needed to say something, but wasn't good at serious conversations. Eventually, he said, "I missed you."_

_Bri smiled a little and said, "I missed you too, Finn."_

"_I'm sorry if I freaked you out on Friday."_

"_You didn't," she said quickly._

"_Bri," he sighed._

"_Fine, you freaked me out. Don't be mad, but I talked to Rory about it."_

"_Good, what'd she say?"_

"_That it's a lot to take in," Bri said, and then wanting to make something clear blurted, "I'm not dating you because you have money."_

_Finn let out a small laugh, "I didn't think you were."_

"_I know it could seem like it, but I'm not."_

"_Doll, I know," he said, hoping the use of the nickname would make her relax._

_Apparently it didn't because she continued, "I know I don't have a lot of money, and I can't afford to have the same lifestyle as you, but I can afford what we need. I don't expect you to pay for everything or buy me expensive gifts like the dress or jewelry for the party last weekend."_

"_Bri, I bought those because I wanted to, and I didn't want you to think you needed to spend money to accompany me somewhere. Not because I felt I had to or because I thought you expected it, only because I wanted to," he said trying to convey the truth of the situation. Then, he added, "If you want to see extravagant, you should see some of the things Logan's bought Rory, there was more than one occasion I thought she was going to kill him."_

_Hearing Bri chuckle, he smiled knowing he got her to relax slightly about the situation and added, "I don't want this to pressure you, and I don't expect anything, but I do love you. I might not have planned to say it then, but I meant it."_

"_I know," Bri sighed, this was honestly the part of the conversation she was dreading._

"_Okay," Finn said a little disappointed, not sure what else to say._

_Sensing the defeat in his voice, Bri tried to explain, "I'm not saying that I won't ever, I just don't know yet. I feel like I don't know you well enough, and I would be lying if I said my ex didn't make me cautious."_

_Finn could tell she was being honest, but knew the only thing he could do now was try to help his cause. Taking what she had just said, he asked, "What do you want to know?"_

_Bri gave a small laugh and said, "Well, Rory told me that you weren't drunk as much as people thought."_

"_I see she was careful not to say I didn't drink as much as people thought, big difference."_

"_It is," Bri agreed, then asked, "what about now?"_

"_How much do I drink now?"_

"_Yeah," Bri asked curious._

"_I like to have a drink when I get home from work. Other than that, it's primarily social, but it's not excessive," he explained, and saw Bri seemed to accept his explanation._

"_She also said you went to ten different high schools," Bri added, wondering what he would say to that._

"_It was only eight!" he defended._

_Bri had to laugh, "I still don't get how you could get kicked out that many times."_

"_It's a gift," he said with mock pride. "Anything else you want to know about me?" he said seriously, he didn't want her to think he was trying to hide anything. _

_Bri smiled at the gesture and thought for a minute, "Nothing I can think of, but I'll ask if I do," she promised. After a few moments of silence, she decided she needed to ask this next question, "I do have a question, but it isn't about you. Well, it is about you, but not…"_

_Finn tried his hardest not to laugh at her nervous rant, "What is it Doll?"_

"_Where am I sleeping?" she blurted out._

"_In the suite we were in earlier."_

"_I got that, but which room?" she asked, now almost impatient for his answer._

"_You want to know if you're sleeping with me?" he observed._

"_I want to know what you're thinking."_

"_That I would sleep in one room, and Maddy would sleep in the other. Then, you could sleep where you wanted."_

"_What do you want me to do?"_

_Sighing, Finn decided to answer the question he knew she was skating around, "If you're asking me if I would like you to sleep in my room, the answer is yes. Of course, I would like that, but I know that Maddy is with you, and it might make you uncomfortable."_

"_That Maddy is here?" Bri asked, wanting to know what he meant by that._

"_Yes and that she could find us together," Finn explained._

"_Okay," Bri said, still a little nervous about what Finn thought Maddy would be finding._

"_I'm asking you to sleep in my bed, not have sex," he said bluntly._

_Bri let out a slow breath, then quietly said, "I want to stay in your room."_

"_Really?" he asked honestly surprised at her answer._

_Bri nodded, then added, "But, I should leave early so I'm not still there when Maddy wakes up."_

_This caused Finn to smile and say, "I think that can be arranged."_

_They stayed outside for a while longer, when Bri noticed how tired Maddy looked, probably the combination of a shorter nap than she usually had and being outside. They headed back to their room, and after changing Maddy into her pajamas, they put on a movie. When it was time for the guests to arrive, Finn left to meet them while Bri waited until her daughter fell asleep to join the group._

--

"Wow," was all Rory could think to say when he finished his story.

"Is that a bad wow or a good wow?" Finn asked, getting nervous to hear what she said.

"A good wow, but also a wow at your story telling ability."

"So you think we're okay?"

"I think she's still adjusting, but yes, I think you're okay."

"And you're not just saying that?"

"Nope," Rory said with an encouraging smile, "she likes you Finn, and from the sound of it, Maddy likes you too. Just be patient with her, remember to talk to her, and keep doing what you're doing."

--

Finn and Rory returned to the lounge, and he walked over to Bri and asked, "How is she?"

"She was still asleep on the couch so I moved her to the bed."

"Good," Finn said, then noticing Lorelai manning the bar, he dramatically admonished, "Lorelai, my second Love, step away from my bar."

"Don't you trust me?" she asked with a pout.

"No," he said seriously, and walked over to shoo her out from behind the bar.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Logan asked.

"Since we have all night, I say we play a drinking dame," Steph declared.

"All night?" Rory asked.

"Didn't I tell you?" Logan asked innocently.

"You always seem to forget these things," she mocked.

"Ace, we are spending the night on the yacht. There are plenty of rooms, as you know, and I figured we could get ready for lunch here and go together."

"What am I supposed to wear?"

"Think you can fashion something out of seaweed?"

"Not funny Huntzberger."

"I packed a bag for us when I got home and dropped it off at Finn's, he brought it with him."

"And, my clothes are Emily appropriate?"

"Yes, grey pants and a thin sweater," he assured her.

"That just won't do!" Lorelai said seriously, "Don't worry I packed some ass-less chaps you can borrow."

Rory rolled her eyes and waited for Luke to say something, but when she heard nothing, looked around the room, "Mom, where's Luke?"

"He's old and boring," she whined, then clarified, "he went to bed."

Finn walked back and forth carrying everyone a fresh drink, and as he set the last one down, asked Steph, "What's the game?"

"I never, for old time sakes," she said to no one's surprise, since she had the most dirt on people, it was always her game of choice, but added, "but I say we take a good size sip of our drink instead of shots, we can play longer, and I, for one, don't feel like dealing with alcohol poisoning tonight."

"Who starts?" Lorelai asked.

"The birthday girl," Steph announced.

Rory thought for a minute before deciding to start tame and say, "I've never turned down coffee." At this, everyone took a sip.

Seeing her mom drink with everyone else, Rory gasped, "When?"

"I was pregnant and had to cut back, you don't know the sacrifices I made for you kid," Lorelai defended.

From there, they worked around the circle. Next was Paris who said, "I've never been nicknamed by multiple blond rich boys," which left only Rory taking a sip.

Curious Logan asked, "And here, I thought I was being original."

"No, a slightly cockier, but, don't worry, not as good looking guy from high school insisted on calling me Mary."

Wanting to tease her a bit more, Logan asked, "So when you accuse me of having the biggest ego of anyone you've ever met, it's a lie?"

"Ego is self-importance, cocky is arrogance."

Logan rolled his eyes, "Because that's such a difference."

Seeing that Rory wasn't responding and that it was his turn, Doyle said, "I've never had sex outside," which led to everyone except Rory, Bri, Paris, and surprisingly, Steph drinking.

"Lorelai?" Steph said surprised.

This made her grin, knowing the discomfort it would cause Rory and said, "On a balcony outside my room in high school. You get pretty things when you have sex outside."

By this point, Rory was bright red, but no one else understood what was going on. Finally, Honor teased, "Pretty things?" thinking it was some sort of euphemism for an orgasm.

"Rory," Lorelai said with a flourish of her hand to her daughter who was trying to hide, clearly already knowing what her mother meant. This made everyone cringe as they pieced together the information, but Logan much more so than the rest.

"They didn't need to know that," Rory whined, realizing that being the guest of honor meant a lot of this would be aimed at her.

Josh thought for a question, before deciding to say, "I've never dated someone who had more than a ten year age difference from me."

Before anyone drank, Finn asked, "Define date."

Josh gave him a smile and said, "At least three consecutive dates," which caused Finn to pout and Lorelai and Paris to drink.

Seeing his face, Steph said, "Oh just take a drink!"

"I've never had sex in public," Honor declared, causing Logan, Finn, Paris, Steph, and Colin to drink.

Rory was thinking and finally asked "Define public?"

"Something is public when either anyone could just walk by and see or it's a public place: Restroom, elevator, those things," Honor explained. Hearing the answer, Rory decided that one, Miss Patty's was closed at the time, and two, even though it was used for town meetings, it was still her property.

Lorelai, inspired by Paris's statement, offered, "I've never cried because someone kissed me."

Rory whined, "Why are you all after me, it's my birthday remember!" but took her drink anyways.

Hearing this, Colin smiled and asked, "Please tell me it was Logan."

"No, it was Tristan, the previously mentioned blond guy who nicknamed me, it was high school, and I had just broken up with my boyfriend the day before," Rory said concisely.

"You kissed Tristan!" Paris yelled, shocked at the story.

"It was only once, and it was short," Rory defended.

"How did I not know this?"

"It never came up," Rory said with a shrug.

Lorelai grinned mischievously and said, "I told you, you needed to wallow."

"Wallow?" Steph asked, "What happened?"

"Oh, this is a good story!" Lorelai said, bouncing in her seat.

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, "I had just broken up with my first boyfriend, and you go on about it being a good story."

"Oh, just tell us already," Honor exclaimed.

"Fine," Rory relented, "the day before was my three month anniversary with my boyfriend. After dinner, he took me to this junk yard and told me he was building me a car. He then said he loved me. When I sat there in shock and didn't reply, he broke up with me because I didn't love him back."

"That's not crying after a kiss," Honor pointed out.

"That was the next day. I went to a Chilton party with Lane. But when we got there and Lane met a future Korean doctor to talk to, I didn't know what to do so I read my book…"

"You read a book at a party?" Finn asked shocked.

"Yes, but then I wandered around the house and ended up by a piano alone with Tristan. His girlfriend had broken up with him at the party, and we started talking, then he kissed me."

"And why did you cry?" Josh asked, not seeing the connection.

"I…" Rory started then tried again, "The thing is…"

"The kiss made her think of Dean, which made her think about the break up, and the reality set in that it was really over, causing her to cry because she hadn't yet," Lorelai explained in one breath, knowing Rory would take forever to explain it.

Everyone except mother and daughter sat in shock at the story Rory told, the guys because Lorelai's explanation gave such insight of how the female mind works and that Dean could be that stupid, Paris because she never knew Rory and Tristan had kissed, Honor and Steph because although they loved that she was with Logan now knew how hard the first break up was, and Bri because she was relieved that the same thing didn't happen with Finn since she really liked him.

When nobody said anything after a few minutes, Rory gave Colin a look to take his turn.

"I've never spent over 500,000 dollars during a single shopping spree," Colin stated, and watched as Steph, Honor, and Logan took a drink.

"Logan, mate, please tell me you haven't gone to the dark side," Finn said begging.

"Engagement ring," was all he said as he set his glass down.

Steph glared at Colin and said, "I've never kissed a member of the same sex," making Colin's jaw drop, but take his drink. Paris and Bri did the same.

"Bri?" Logan asked surprised.

She rolled her eyes, "Truth or Dare freshman year of college, and I was drunk."

Finn whipped a fake tear and said, "I'm so proud," then grinning, turned to Colin and taunted, "Colin, I didn't know you swung that way."

"I didn't know it was a guy," he replied.

"Sure you didn't," Steph teased.

"He was in drag! Really good drag!"

"Rory, you have to drink too," Paris accused, as she set down her glass.

"No," she said firmly.

"Why not?"

"Because I was minding my own business when _you_ came up and kissed _me_. I had nothing to do with it."

"You and Gellar kissed?" Finn asked, his mind going into overdrive with the information.

"I was trying to get us free drinks," Paris defended.

"Then you should have tried flirting with a guy like normal people do."

"I had a boyfriend."

"And kissing a girl was okay?"

Logan jumped in this time saying, "I think most guys wouldn't object."

"Logan!" Rory yelled, to which he just shrugged and leaned back into the couch.

Finn had been thinking of what he could say, and wanting to end the lovers' spat, decided on, "Besides family, I've never lived with a member of the opposite sex," which made everyone except Bri drink, and Finn smiled triumphantly for getting that many people in one turn.

"I've never read a karma sutra book," Bri said, looking right at Finn. He just winked at her and sat still while her eyes widened realizing he hadn't read one. In the meantime, Logan, Josh, Steph, Paris, and Lorelai drank.

Paris took notice of those drinking and said, "I can't believe it, a book Gilmore hasn't read."

Rory shot back, "Maybe I don't need the help."

"I'll second that," Logan said quickly, with a smirk.

Lorelai yelled, "Over share!" as she and Honor got grossed out looks on their faces.

Logan was next, and he wanted to make sure he got the girls back, so declared, "I've never thought Finn's accent was hot," and watched as all the girls present took a sip.

"That's good to hear," Finn commented to Logan, while giving all the girls a playful smile.

Logan didn't respond to Finn, instead he was focused on something else, eventually he said, "Honor!"

"What? I may be your sister, but I'm not deaf, and the accent is hot."

"I knew girls want me for my exotic-ness," Finn stated proudly, sending a blatant wink to Honor.

Wanting to get the boys, Rory said, "I've never had a one night stand," and watched as Logan, Finn, Colin, Steph, and Honor took a drink.

Paris offered, "I've never toilet papered a house." Waiting, she turned to tell Doyle to take a drink, but then noticed he was out cold and shrugged. While she did that, Bri, Colin, Logan, Finn, Lorelai, and Josh took a drink.

"Doll?" Finn asked, surprised she drank for this one.

"What, did you think you were the only kids who dared to toilet paper?"

Grinning, he said, "Of course not."

Skipping Doyle, it was Josh's turn again, who tried to think of something Honor has done, but he hadn't. Finally, he said, "I've never had foie gras." Honor pouted at him and took her drink, seeing everyone but Lorelai and Rory drink.

Logan turned to Rory and said, "Drink up."

"Logan, I have not had foie gras. There is no way I'd eat duck liver," she said with a look of disgust.

Logan smirked, "I think on this specific occasion it was goose liver, but same thing. As for why you ate it, I told you it was chicken, and not only did you eat it, I believe you had a second piece."

"Why would you do that to me?!"

Honor stepped in, deciding to get Logan back for Rory, and said, "I've never embarrassed myself on national television." This, of course, made Logan drink, but to a lot of people's surprise, Paris as well.

"Gellar do tell," Logan asked.

Knowing it would come out somehow, Paris relented, "I was giving a speech on C-SPAN and announced I lost my virginity," which shocked everyone except Rory and Lorelai.

"Why would you do that?" Honor asked, with a look of horror on her face.

"I was upset," she explained.

Rory rolled her eyes and answered for her friend, "Paris, instead of giving our planned speech, you told everyone you didn't get into Harvard because you were being punished for having sex, on live TV no less."

"But I was right, wasn't I? You didn't have sex, and you got in. Harvard only accepts virgins."

"I know they have a thorough application process Gellar, but how could they know that?" Logan asked.

"They have alumni all over serving as informants," Paris assured him.

Lorelai wanted to stop Paris's rant so drunkenly declared, "I've never had sex with my boss."

Rory sat up and proudly took her glass and drank. When she set it down, she announced, "He was good too, and Paris why didn't you drink?"

"Because I haven't slept with my boss," she said in an obvious tone.

"You had sex with Doyle, he was your editor. Your editor **is**your boss."

"You don't get paid to be on the paper, making it a student organization, not job. Therefore, Doyle was not technically my boss. Besides if you didn't drink for the kiss, I'm not drinking for this."

"Fine," Rory said, but not happy about being singled out yet again.

Colin wanted to say something he knew would make Steph drink, and remembering her complaints about her dates before they got together, announced, "I've never faked an orgasm." To this, all the girls started laughing and took an extra long drink.

Seeing this, all the guys except Colin and Finn started looking nervous which just made the girls laugh harder. Surprisingly, it was Josh who asked the question to Honor first, "Who?"

Honor looked at the girls and said, "Only if they all say too." When she saw everyone nod, she answered, "Brandon from college, and Rick from high school."

"You had sex with Rick!" Logan yelled.

"So?"

"You dated him when you were a sophomore, you shouldn't have been having sex then."

"Says you?" Honor asked in disbelief.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Logan argued back.

"You were having sex freshmen year!"

"So?"

"If you were having sex as a freshman, you can't yell at me for sleeping with my _boyfriend_ as a sophomore."

"But, boys are different…" Logan argued back weakly, knowing his sister was right.

Silence fell over the group after the siblings finished their squabble. Still disturbed by the information, Logan kept repeating, "I can't believe you were having sex with him."

While Logan was still muttering under his breath, Josh turned to Honor and whispered, "Lucky for you, I know what I'm doing."

Apparently, Josh did not speak as quietly as he had hoped, because Logan groaned, "I can hear you, and I so do not need to think about that."

Honor decided to turn the tables and ask, "So Rory, is my brother keeping you satisfied?"

Before she could respond, Logan look offended and said, "Of course I am!"

Honor just smiled and asked, "Rory?"

"Logan's…" Rory started, and then blushed, remembering how attentive Logan had been to her the first time they had sex together and how wonderful her subsequent first orgasm had been, said, "He's fine. It was Dean."

"I knew it!" Lorelai cheered, "No wonder Lindsay was so bitchy, she needed a good lay."

"Mom!" Rory scolded, not wanting to think about the other reason Lindsay was so bitchy.

"I meant before that happened," she defended, "For me, it was Chris and Jason."

Rory was so shocked she couldn't even respond, and seeing her face, Lorelai offered, "We were young, still new to it. Don't worry, he improved with time."

Rory just groaned and sank into the couch, hitting her head on the cushion, hopping she could forget what her mom just said.

Sensing it was her turn, Bri offered, "Kyle," even though she knew everyone could figure that out.

Last was Paris, who admitted, "Asher."

"I told you no details!" Rory shouted, really not wanting to remember that situation.

Steph looked nervous, but knew she was the only one left. When she realized everyone was looking at her expectantly, she answered quickly, "RJDaveColin."

Catching the last name she had said, Finn asked, "Who was that last one kitten?"

"Colin," she mumbled, but everyone knew what she said.

"What?" he asked shocked, thinking this whole time he was in the clear.

"I was really tired and knew you were close so I didn't want to ruin it for you."

"Is that why you're so moody some mornings?" Logan asked, then glancing at Colin added, "Built up frustration from the night before."

Finn just grinned and added, "I knew you sucked in bed!"

"He doesn't," Steph defended, "it was one time!"

Steph thought, and then glancing at Finn said, "I've never ended a date the hospital."

Finn drank and said, "It's not my fault she sprained her ankle in those heels, I did not make her wear them!" That statement caused everyone else to laugh as Finn became lost in thought of what he could say for his next question.

"I've never had phone sex," Finn said proudly, making Logan and Rory drink.

Lorelai frowned and said, "I'm never touching your phone again."

"Ditto Logan," Honor added.

Logan rolled his eyes at his sister and said, "We've both bought new cell phones since I was in London."

Thinking about it, Colin asked, "What about longer business trips?" Logan smirked and gave a knowing smile.

Dryly Lorelai said, "I'm not risking it."

Bri thought for a moment and then said, "I've never been skinny dipping." At this, everyone but Rory took a drink, causing Logan to look at her in surprise, but not say anything.

Lorelai was a different story and exclaimed, "Rory, even my mother's been skinny dipping."

"I did not need to be reminded of that," Rory said, making a face.

"You? They're my parents, that's so much more disturbing."

"I had successfully forgotten about that, thank you. But, no, you had to go and bring it up."

"Liar! No matter how much you may want to forget it, that piece of information has been burned into our brains," Lorelai ranted, and both girls shuttered but remained silent.

Logan looked around and wanting to get Rory and Honor back the most stated, "I've never had my family try to auction me off to the highest bidder."

They both drank, and Rory was the first to yell at him, "That's not fair, it was beyond my control!"

At the same time, Honor was saying, "You know I hated when Mom did that!"

Rory, taking her time to think of a question to get back at Logan while the others talked, began to hear muffled voices.

"What if they noticed how long we were gone," Lane said with worry.

"Don't worry babe, I'm sure they're distracted. Let's just go back in and stay quiet until they notice," she knew was Zach, trying to calm her friend.

Rory looked around and had a feeling other people hadn't heard, so letting the alcohol do the talking, declared loudly, "I've never had sex on **this** yacht," and held out her drink towards Lane and Zach.

Knowing she was caught, Lane came over highly embarrassed and took her sip and then handed the glass to Zach. After that, the game broke up, but with the alcohol flowing they started talking and sharing all sorts of stories.

Seeing it was a few minutes to midnight, Finn excused himself quietly from the room. When he did, Rory went over to Bri and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Bri asked, not sure what made Rory ask that.

"Did you get a chance to talk to Finn about Friday?" Rory asked, curious what Bri would say.

"Yeah, I mean we didn't get into every detail, but I talked to him about a lot of the things we did."

"And you guys are okay," Rory asked cautiously, hoping she didn't lie to Finn.

"Yeah," Bri said, "I really like him."

"I think you're good for him," Rory said honestly.

"Really?"

"Really, and I bet if you ask Steph, she'd say the same thing," Rory promised.

The girls continued talking until Finn came back almost twenty minutes later carrying a cake, which he set down in front of Rory. Surprised, Rory asked, "Cake now?"

"It's officially your birthday Love."

"Ah," Rory said, understanding the logic.

Once they all had pieces of cake, they settled down, talking in couples or small groups. Rory and Paris were teasing Lane about disappearing with her husband for so long earlier in the evening, Josh and Logan were discussing the presidential candidates, and Lorelai and Honor were talking about the upcoming wedding shower, since Honor was representing Logan's side of the family.

Steph had pulled Colin off the side, and using the alcohol she had consumed as courage, she told him about her concerns about her job. He was surprised and wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, so went with the safe response of not saying much for now.

Finn was talking to Bri, letting her know he had gone to check on Maddy, who was still sound asleep, before he brought out the cake.

Once they finished their cake, the group talked for a while longer until people began heading off to their apartments for the night. Soon, only Logan, Rory, and Lorelai were left, and when Lorelai started to nod off, she said she was going to bed as well.

--

"Hey Logan, can we walk outside?"

"Any reason why?"

"We didn't get to stay out for very long before and fresh air sounds good. Besides, no one else is awake," Rory commented.

"Drunk?" Logan asked with a grin.

"Nope," she said.

Logan just laughed and followed her out of the room and onto the main deck. As they walked around, Logan saw the outdoor pool and dragged Rory towards it.

"Logan, where are we going?"

"Need to get you to live a little."

Rory just rolled her eyes, knowing he said that whenever he was trying to get her to do something she normally wouldn't, "What is it this time?"

Walking to the edge of the pool, Logan stopped, dropped her hand, pulled off his shirt, and was working on his pants when he turned to her and said, "Skinny dipping."

"No," she said seriously.

"Ace, no one is here but us, it's no big deal," he offered, and then to prove his point asked, "How many times have I seen you naked?"

Rory blushed a little, but said, "That's not the point."

"No? Then what is?"

"This is Finn's boat: Well technically, it isn't even his yet."

"Trust me, it's as good as his. Him seeing it was just a formality at this point."

"Logan, someone could see!"

"They all went to sleep."

"What if they wake up and get up to look out the window and they see me out here naked."

"Okay, no one is going to do that, and even if they do, they won't be able to see any details."

"Another boat could come by or a helicopter could have its lights on and see us. Or, the coast guard Logan! I don't want to explain why I'm naked on someone else's boat."

"Someone could be peeping in our bedroom window at the penthouse too."

"That doesn't make me feel better," she shot back.

"They would see me naked too," he tried.

Rory took off her shoes and stuck her toe in the water and exclaimed, "The water's freezing!"

At this point, Logan was in his boxers so he felt the water himself, "It's not that bad, it's warmer than the air."

"That's another thing, when we get out, I'll freeze even more. Do you want me to get hypothermia?"

"You're not going to get hypothermia in the five minutes it will take us to get back."

Rory looked around trying to find another argument for her case, "The water's dirty."

"Not any worse than the ocean, and I know you've gone swimming there."

"But the ocean's dark, you can't see it."

"Doesn't make it any less there. Anything else?"

"Why do I have to do this?"

"Because I can't believe you've gone 23 years without doing it."

"I'm sure plenty of people have gone longer."

"Not the point, because I also want to know how we've been together for two and a half years, and you haven't done it."

Laughing, Rory had to admit, "That is much more surprising."

"Come on, Ace. It'll be fun, a thrill," Logan coaxed, knowing Rory was close to giving in.

Sighing, Rory slowly nodded knowing Logan wouldn't give up.

"Good, now stop wasting time. One less minute you haven't lived, Ace. Take off those clothes."

"So demanding."

Looking her over, he asked in a husky voice, "Need any help?"

Rory looked at him trying to decide if she could still get out of it, but she knew he would talk her into it somehow, so she slowly took off her shirt. When she did, her entire upper body became covered in goosebumps, "Logan, this is crazy."

Deciding to use some newly acquired ammunition, he asked, "Are you really going to be out done by Emily?"

"So I can wear an overcoat too?"

"Overcoat?"

"Yeah, Grandpa said she wore one when they went skinny dipping," Rory said a bit annoyed, this was the second time the topic was being discussed tonight.

Frustrated, Logan said, "Can we not talk about your grandparents naked."

"You brought it up!"

"I thought it would get you in the pool."

"Obviously, the wrong tactic."

"Come on Ace, this is a tradition of the Gilmore women, I bet Lorelai even has it in your handbook somewhere," he urged, convinced this would work.

"Even if I wanted too, all tonight would result in is me turning purple."

"You can put your clothes on when we're done."

"Not when I'm wet, they'll stick, and I am not walking back to our room naked!"

"You can put on my boxers and shirt; they'll be baggy so it won't be a problem."

"And you're going to walk back naked?"

"I can put my pants on," he replied, and gave her an impatient look. Seeing this, Rory took off her pants, leaving her in just her bra and panties.

Once he saw this, he shed his boxers and dove into the pool. When he resurfaced, he looked up to see Rory standing obviously cold, with her arms wrapped around her stomach.

"Ace, come in the water."

Just wanting to get it over with, Rory started walking towards the steps of the pool. Once there, she quickly pulled off her bra and panties and walked down the steps into the water. She moved through the water slowly, her body very cold, but after some more coaxing from Logan, finally went under which made it feel better. When she came up, Logan wrapped his arms around her and ran his hands over her back and arms hoping to warm her up.

"Better?" he asked to which she nodded, but the second Logan stood up lifting her shoulders out of the water, she started shivering.

Laughing, he lowered them back into the water and asked, "Is it that bad?"

"Right now no, but the second I get out of the water, I have a feeling I'm going to regret it."

"You can take a hot shower when we get to the room."

Rory sighed, that sounded amazing. Then, thinking about it, she said, "Don't think I would ever do this if anyone else was around."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't ask, I don't want anyone else seeing you naked either."

They stayed in the water for a few more minutes before Logan got out and put his pants on, then waited as Rory pulled on his other clothes. Then, they grabbed their shoes and her clothes and made a quick dash for their room.

Logan went straight to the bathroom and started the shower, while Rory waited impatiently in his clothes. When it warmed up, she pulled the clothes off quickly, stepped in the hot shower, and moaned, "That feels so good."

Logan laughed as he stepped in the shower behind her and asked, "That good huh?"

Rory just nodded and enjoyed the feeling of Logan wrapping his arms around her. After a few minutes, Logan felt that she had stopped shivering, "Finally warmed up?"

"Better, but I'm still cold on the inside."

"The inside?"

Rory nodded, "The water only warmed up my skin."

Hearing this, Logan moved his hands to run quickly over her arms and back, holding her close to him, "Any better?"

"I think I need coffee," she said with a pout.

Logan laughed and having other ideas, moved his hands lower to squeeze her butt.

Rory jumped and knew what he was trying to do, "Don't even think about it."

"Think about what?" he asked innocently.

"Sex. I almost froze out there. Once I finally warm up, I'm putting on my pajama pants and shirt and climbing under the covers, nothing's coming off."

"I promise it'll warm you up," he said while wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her firmly against his chest.

"Not gonna work," she said firmly.

He laughed, kissing the side of her neck and whispering in her ear, "And I promise, it doesn't include taking off your pajamas."

Before she could say anything, he began running his hands across her stomach, then slowly let one drop lower and the other drift upwards. He thought she might protest, but as his hands moved over their destinations, she let out a moan. Taking this as encouragement, he lowered his lips to tease her neck and shoulder, and continued the work with his hands.

When Logan felt Rory lean more of her weight against him and let out a moan, he knew she was getting more into it. He brought his other hand down to tease her slit, while the other remained on her nub. When he felt how wet she was, he didn't wait long before he slipped a finger inside. As he did, Rory let out a long moan and moved to give him better access. Logan quickly added another finger and started moving faster until she reached her peak.

As she came down, Logan kept his arms around her and leaned to her ear, "Are you warm yet?"

"Mhmm," Rory replied, but then added, "I'm still not having sex with you."

Logan gave a small shrug, "It's not my birthday."

--

Logan woke up when he thought he heard their door open. He looked down and saw Rory still sound asleep curled into his body, which was no surprise, so he looked towards the door. When he did, he saw Lorelai walking slowly across the room.

Confused, he asked sleepily, "Lorelai?"

"Shhh," she said quietly.

Taking her cue, he whispered, "What are you doing?" then looked at the clock and added, "It's almost 4 in the morning."

"Birthday tradition."

"What?"

"You'll see," she said mysteriously and moved to the side of the bed closest to Rory.

Groaning, Logan commented, "You're so lucky we have clothes on right now."

"Defiler of my angel, it's time for you to be quiet now," she instructed.

"Next time, I'm going to make sure we're naked," he mumbled, his arms still wrapped around Rory's body, but he decided to stay quiet to see what would happen.

Lorelai kept her eyes glued to the clock, and when it flipped to read 4:03a.m., moved closer to Rory, and whispered, "Happy birthday little girl."

If Logan was surprised when the quiet whisper not only woke Rory up, but caused her to move closer to him, he was shocked to see Lorelai get in the bed next to her.

He watched as Rory turned her body towards her mother and mumble, "Hey."

To Logan, this seemed like a much too casual of a response to her mother climbing into bed with her daughter and her daughter's fiancé, but still he remained silent and heard Lorelai comment, "I can't believe how fast you're growing up."

This caused Rory to give a wide grin and ask, "Really? Feels slow."

Lorelai sighed and replied, "Trust me, it's fast," then waited a moment to ask, "What do you think of your life so far?"

Rory seemed to think it over before pronouncing, "I think it's pretty good."

'Good?' Logan thought, this year she had gotten engaged, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Yale, and gotten a great job, how did that add up to just good?

It was then that he noticed Lorelai seemed to accept this answer and just ask, "Any complaints?"

He saw Rory's smile get even bigger as she said, "I'd like that whole humidity thing to go away."

'Humidity was her complaint, not his mother or her co-workers…humidity?'

He watched as Lorelai looked right at her and promised, "All right. I'll work on that."

"So do I look older?"

'Was she serious?'

"Oh, yeah. You walk into Denny's before 5, you've got yourself a discount," Lorelai replied with witty sarcasm.

Okay, that didn't surprise him. That response was typical Lorelai. Actually, as he thought about it, it was by far the most normal thing in this conversation so far.

"Good deal," Rory said with as much excitement as she could express at this hour, leaving Logan confused as to why she would want to eat at Denny's.

"So you know what I think?" Lorelai asked. Logan noticed that her voice changed and was curious where this was going.

"What?" Rory asked, with what sounded genuine curiosity.

"I think you're a great, cool kid, and the best friend a girl could have," Lorelai assured her.

When he heard Rory say, "Right back at ya," all he could do was smile at the happiness he heard in her voice.

He thought the conversation was over when Lorelai said, "And it's so hard to believe that at exactly this time many moons ago, I was lying in exactly the same position –"

Logan wasn't sure where it was going and became a bit nervous when Rory replied, "Oh, boy. Here we go."

"Only I had a huge, fat stomach and big fat ankles, and I was swearing like a sailor –" Lorelai explained, and he realized she was talking about when she was pregnant.

"On leave," Rory corrected.

"On leave – right! And there I was," she started again.

"In labor," he heard Rory explain, and fearful to know what Lorelai would say next, he pondered if hearing the story of her birth or conception would turn out to be more disturbing.

Before he could decide, Lorelai was talking again, "And while some have called it the most meaningful experience of your life, to me it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite."

'Wow, talk about imagery,' Logan thought, her description leaving nothing to the imagination.

"I wonder if the Waltons ever did this?" Rory asked, out of the blue, which just left him perplexed.

He almost said something, when Lorelai ignored Rory's question and continued with her story, "And I was screaming and swearing, and being surrounded, as I was, by a hundred prominent doctors, I just assumed there was an actual use for the cup of ice chips they gave me."

"There wasn't," Rory said, more than asked, leaving Logan to ponder what possible use ice chips could have during childbirth.

"But pelting the nurses sure was fun," Lorelai said with her own smirk, and Logan could actually imagine her doing it.

"I love you, Mom," Rory said sincerely, but Logan could tell it was different than when she said it to him, which made sense, but he had never noticed it before.

"Shh. I'm getting to the part where he sees your head," she said excitedly, causing Logan to actually groan out loud for the first time, but still, she continued her tale, "So there I was, screaming that I was pushing a pushing a person out of me without drugs."

"But you found out later you had drugs," Rory reminded her.

"And I told them they needed better drugs because I thought I was going to split in half. But that was later, because this is when I heard you."

'Woah, way more than I ever needed to know about Lorelai's feminine parts,' Logan told himself, not caring that is was indirectly.

"I was perfect, I wouldn't cry," Rory assured her mother causing Logan to roll his eyes.

"All babies cry, and you did too," Lorelai assured her, then continued, "So now, you were the one screaming, and I had no idea what to do."

"I'm sure you had some clue," Rory said confidently, while Logan personally thought Lorelai was telling the truth.

"None, but then, they put you in my arms, and you stopped."

"Because I knew it was you?" Rory asked.

"Yes, because you knew it was me, and I just looked at you, this tiny little baby the nurse handed me, and fell in love," Lorelai said, then looking at Rory, added, "I love you baby girl." When Logan saw this caused them both to smile, he realized that it was being said as part of the story to a baby Rory as much as it was to the 23 year old listening now. At the sentiment, Rory moved out of Logan's arms to let Lorelai pull her into a tight hug, and he watched mother and daughter, smiling for being included in such a special tradition the two had.

After they were quiet for a minute, Lorelai released Rory from her grasp and asked, "What'd you think Defiler?"

"Defiler?" Rory asked, having missed the beginning of the conversation.

Logan rolled his eyes and said, "This must be the strangest of all your mother/daughter traditions."

"And?" Lorelai prompted, knowing he must be thinking more than that.

"You scared your daughter into staying a virgin for so long! That has to be the most disturbing retelling of a birth I've ever heard."

Lorelai laughed, leaned over to kiss Rory's cheek, and just before she left the room, said, "Goodnight."

"So what'd you really think?" Rory asked after her mom left.

Logan grinned and repeated, "That it was the most disturbing description of childbirth I've ever heard."

"That's it?" Rory asked surprised.

"Why'd you complain about humidity?"

"It's our tradition," Rory said obviously.

"I know. Lorelai comes, asks you the same questions, you answer, and then she traumatizes me with the story of your birth."

"Yes, but my answers stay the same each year too."

"So why ask them?"

"It's part of the tradition," Rory said slowly.

Logan laughed, and pulled her back into his arms, and said, "It's a wonderful tradition."

"Thank you," she replied, then kissed him before closing her eyes to go back to sleep.

--

The next morning, couples wandered into the dining area for breakfast at different times, Rory and Logan being the last ones down. They grabbed some food and walked around until finding everyone at the indoor pool. Maddy had on water wings on trying to move, while Bri and Finn stayed close to play with her. Steph, Paris, Doyle, Honor, Lorelai, Lane, and Zach were sitting in an adjacent Jacuzzi while Luke, Colin, and Josh were sitting quietly around the pool area. 

Rory sat and watched everyone while she ate, but almost dropped her glass when she heard a high pitch scream yell, "Finn!"

Panicked, she looked over hoping nothing was wrong and was relieved to spot Maddy laughing as Finn tickled her and shook her head.

Logan heard it too, and observing the scene, commented, "He's good with her."

"Bri says she adores him, thinks he's funny."

Logan thought about it, "You know, of all the things that surprised me when they started dating, the fact that he got along with her daughter wasn't one of them."

Rory laughed, "Nope, that one actually makes sense."

After they finished eating, they changed into their bathing suits to join their friends. For the moment, the boys had left Rory, Steph, and Bri alone at the side of the pool.

Steph teased, "How was your night?"

Rory rolled her eyes at the implication and answered, "Fine, and no we didn't do that."

Steph smiled, "We did."

"And you are telling me that why?" Rory asked sarcastically.

"I enjoy the look on your face every time I mention things like that," Steph said seriously, then asked, "Anything for you to share Bri?" knowing full well they didn't have sex.

"I slept with Finn."

"What?!" Steph and Rory both yelled.

"No, not like that, I slept in Finn's room."

"Really?" Rory asked, still surprised.

"So what happened?" Steph asked, excitedly.

--

_Finn and Bri walked back to their room, and immediately checked on Maddy. Finn watched as Bri went over to sit with her and decided to give mother and daughter some alone time. He walked to their room and changed into pants and an undershirt before settling on the bed. A few minutes later, Bri walked in. She gave Finn a small smile, grabbed her pajamas from her bag, and went into the bathroom._

_The door opened a few minutes later to reveal Bri in a pair of shorts and a tank top. She fidgeted there for a moment before taking a breath and walking towards the bed. _

_Finn could tell she was nervous so he moved to the edge of the bed so Bri stood between his legs._

"_You don't have to sleep here," he commented._

_Bri smiled, "I want to."_

_Finn reached a hand up to play with her hair. He let out a small laugh as he realized she was only an inch or two taller than him standing when he was sitting._

"_Something funny?"_

"_You're short."_

"_Hey, I'm taller right now!"_

"_I'm sitting," he shot back and smiled, leaning up to kiss her. Bri responded by taking a step closer and wrapping her arms around his neck. Finn let his hand run through her hair while the other was pulling her closer. _

_They continued kissing like that until Bri decided to be a bit bold, mainly because she knew Finn wouldn't press for sex, and climbed on the bed, straddling herself over his lap. Finn groaned at the movement, but moved his hands to her hips and let his thumb rub her exposed skin._

_When he felt her push, he let himself lay back on the bed, bringing her with him, loving the feel of her body pressed against him. After enjoying themselves for a while longer, Finn finally had to pull away to take a few deep breaths, but kept Bri hugged to his chest._

"_You're trying to kill me aren't you?" he asked, it was the only thing he could think of after her little display just now._

_Bri giggled, she knew what kind of affect she was having on him, but to be honest, she was enjoying herself too much to stop. They had only really kissed since they started dating because ever since her freak out about sex, the bedroom had stayed off limits, and they made sure not to let themselves get carried away. She decided to be bolder tonight because between the conversation they had that afternoon and his confession Friday, she trusted him to be patient with her and knew he wouldn't push it to go any further than they had._

"_You think this is funny?" he asked, knowing full well she could feel how hard he was._

"_A little funny," she assured him._

"_Are you less nervous now?" he asked seriously._

_She nodded, but observing him closer asked, "Is this what you usually sleep in?"_

_Finn laughed, but answered, "Normally, I sleep in my boxers."_

"_So what's with the pants and shirt?"_

"_I thought it would make you feel less awkward."_

"_Well, don't," she said truthfully, "I want you to wear what you normally would."_

_Finn looked at her to consider her request, and finally said, "Okay, but you have to let me up."_

"_No fun," she pouted, but slid off of him and onto the bed._

_Finn lay still trying to calm himself. Once he did, he moved off the bed and removed his undershirt and pants, leaving him in just his boxers. Bri watched and smiled, thoroughly enjoying the view of her scantily clad boyfriend, but at the same time, shifting to get under the covers._

_Finn smiled, seeing her reaction, and moved back to the bed. When he was back in bed, he turned towards her and pulled her body against his. Kissing her lips softly, he said, "Goodnight, Doll."_

"_Goodnight, Finn."_

--

"That is so sweet," Steph gushed.

"You sound surprised," Rory stated. While it was sometimes funny to think of Finn with a serious girlfriend, she was not surprised that he could be sweet. She knew he had that side to him, just hadn't found a girl to direct them towards before Bri.

"Just a little," Steph admitted.

"I'm still a bit surprised at times," Bri confessed, "He's been so understanding."

At this, Steph smiled proudly, "We trained him well."

"Trained him for what?" Rory asked not following.

"Obviously, all the times he's listened to us complain and worry, he learned that most girls tend to freak out. And because he had to deal with us, he was better prepared for Bri."

Bri laughed at her logic, but said, "Well, thank you."

"It was out pleasure," Steph said seriously, while Rory rolled her eyes.

--

It was just after twelve when Rory, Logan, Lorelai, Luke, Honor, Josh, Lane and Zach, now showered and changed, got in the helicopter that would take them to shore while the rest of the group chose to stay on the yacht a while longer.

When the helicopter landed, everyone except Lane and Zach went to the limo that would be taking them across town to the restaurant Emily had chosen for the occasion, while Lane and Zach went to visit some sites in the city. In the car, they were all quiet, savoring the silence they knew would disappear the moment they walked into lunch, when Honor's phone rang.

"Hello," she greeted, "Hi Dad…Yes, I am…Why didn't you call them?...I'm sure it would have been fine…Fine, what is it?...Really!...Why not?...Probably…Bye."

Confused at hearing Honor laugh while on the phone with their father, Logan asked, "What was that about?"

"He asked me to pass along a message to Rory."

"Why didn't he just call me?" Logan asked.

"Apparently, he didn't know what he would be interrupting."

"He said that!" Rory shrieked, mortified.

"Yeah, but he was laughing, I swear," Honor said hoping to calm her.

"What was the message?" Logan asked, still wondering what was going on.

"He wants to apologize because he won't be able to make lunch, but says you'll get your gift later."

"He didn't have to get me anything," Rory said, feeling awkward.

"Why isn't he coming?" Logan asked.

"Apparently, Emily called Mom to invite her, Dad, and Grandpa, and Dad thought the best present he could give was keeping them away from you on your birthday."

Knowing it was true, Logan realized what had made Honor laugh earlier as he did so himself.

"Do you think he could keep my Mom away for my birthday?" Lorelai asked, sounding hopeful.

Logan shot back, "Just tell him he can't, and he'll do it just to prove you wrong."

Smiling, she said, "Will do."

Sooner than they would have liked, the group reached their destination. They walked in and gave the name Gilmore to the hostess who led them to a small private room where they saw Emily, Richard, Chris, and Gigi already there.

Excited, Rory said, "Dad," and walked over to give him a hug.

"Happy Birthday Sweetie," he offered, while he had her in a hug.

"Thanks," she said with a smile, then leaned down to give her sister a hug.

"Happy Birthday Rory," she said with a smile.

"Thank you for coming to see me," Rory replied, and after she did, Gigi climbed back on her father's lap.

Rory soon heard her Grandma saying, "Happy Birthday Rory."

"Hi Grandma, Grandpa," she said and gave them both a hug.

Emily looked suspiciously over the group and asked, "Did you all get here at the same time?"

Knowing she was looking for something to reprimand them on, Logan stepped in, "Actually Emily, we all drove together. Also, my father called, and unfortunately, some business came up, and they won't be able to make it."

"Oh, what a shame," Emily said, looking truly disappointed.

Rory took the lead and said, "Grandma, you remember Logan's sister Honor and her husband Josh right?"

"Of course," she said with a smile, "lovely to see you again, and thank you for joining us."

"Thank you Emily, Richard."

"No need to keep standing, please everyone, take a seat," Emily instructed and took her seat next to Richard.

Richard smiled and asked, "So where were you coming from?"

"We spent last night on Finn's yacht," Rory answered.

"Is that so?" he asked, "What kind of yacht?"

"It's a new model, just here for a few days before it heads to Australia," Rory explained.

"I hope it was safe, some of those yachts are too small for such a busy port like New York," Emily worried.

"It was extremely safe, over 600 feet long," Logan assured her.

"What were you doing?" Chris asked, curious.

"I got some friends together for a surprise birthday party," Logan answered.

"Why on a boat?" he asked, curious about the choice.

"I wanted to have a private dinner somewhere with a place for the group to relax afterwards, so I called Finn to see if any of his hotels in New York had something that would work. He said he didn't think so, but a yacht his father ordered was in the harbor for a few days, and we could use it."

Emily smiled and said, "It sounds like it was absolutely lovely."

The group spent some more time talking about the yacht while they ate the appetizers Richard had ordered before turning the conversation to a variety of topics as they ate the rest of the meal.

--

When Rory and Logan got home, she collapsed onto the couch and muttered, "I think she's a CIA trained interrogator."

"She's not that bad."

"She knows things and gives you this look that makes you squirm on the spot."

Logan laughed and said, "But you got to see your Dad and Gigi."

"That was nice," Rory admitted, she hadn't seen Gigi in over six months.

"She was a lot more talkative."

"Well, she is five and a half, she's a big girl," Rory replied, mimicking the answer Gigi had given Honor at lunch.

"Of course," he agreed, "I'm just glad no one asked too many details about what we did on the yacht last night."

Rory shook her head, "That is definitely not grandparent approved material."

"Most would also say it wasn't parent approved either, yet Lorelai was there."

"That's different, I'm just glad Luke went to bed."

"Me too," Logan assured her, and sat down on the couch next to her. After a few minutes, Logan disappeared into the hall, returning a few minutes later carrying two large baskets.

"What are those?"

"These are your birthday presents."

"Can I open?" she asked, getting excited.

"I didn't bring them out to be stared at," he replied.

Rory opened the slightly smaller package first. Inside, she found an assortment of movies, a pair of cotton pajamas, several coffee mugs – each with a different flavor of her favorite gourmet coffee brand inside, and under it all, every kind of candy imaginable.

Rory looked at it all and excited asked, "A movie night kit?"

"I hadn't thought of it like that, but yes, I guess it is."

"I love it!" she said and started looking through everything closer.

"Ace, you still have one more gift left."

"Oh," Rory said and turned from what she was doing to take the other basket. Inside this one, she found a pair of silk pajamas, a couple of books, a variety of lotions and perfumes, and finally an envelope."

Everything looked great, but she wasn't sure what the theme was yet, when she heard Logan say, "Open the envelope."

She did, and inside, she found a certificate for an all inclusive day at the spa, then back at everything else he had there, "A relaxation kit."

"I know you've been stressed lately and thought you could use it. You can pick any day you want, just call them and you're set."

Rory leaned over to him and kissed him, "Thank you Logan."

"Happy Birthday Ace."

"Can we order Thai food and watch the movies you bought?"

"Actually, we have reservations for dinner."

"Logan, we have already celebrated my birthday twice, we do not need to go to dinner too."

"One time was with friends, and the other with family. Call me selfish, but I want to celebrate with just you."

"You are selfish," she teased.

"You'll like it," he promised.

"And you won't lie to me about what I'm eating?" she asked, still not forgetting about the foie gras confession from the night before.

"Not on your birthday," he swore.

Rory almost protested, but that was more than she was hoping for, then asked, "And it'll just be dinner? Nothing else? No bungee jumping, parasailing, tattoo parlors, skydiving, trips to the Titanic…"

"Should you really be giving me ideas?" Logan teased.

"Just dinner?" Rory asked again.

"We'll have to drive somewhere to get there," Logan pointed out.

"But no stunt or expensive gift?" Rory asked skeptical, "You've done more than enough for my birthday."

"Nothing like that," he promised.

"What time is dinner?"

"Seven thirty," he answered.

Looking at the clock, Rory commented, "Twenty minutes before I have to start getting ready," and curled up next to him to relax for a while longer.

--

Logan took Rory to an upscale French restaurant in midtown. After giving his name, they were escorted to table on the side of the room.

Logan looked over the menu to find an appetizer, and smiled, "Hey Ace, they have foie gras."

Rory glared, "Not funny."

When the waiter came over, Logan ordered a bottle of wine and, smirking at Rory, pointed at two appetizers on the menu.

When the waiter walked away, Rory demanded, "What did you order?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Rory didn't say anything, frustrated with not knowing what he ordered, so Logan broke the silence asking, "Buy any new books lately?"

"What makes you think that?" she asked, playing dumb.

"When I got home the other day you were engrossed in a sea of books spread out on the coffee table. I went to change, but when I got back they were gone, just curious what they were about." he informed her, wanting to hear her response.

"Just some leisure reading," she said vaguely.

"About what?"

"History."

Logan laughed at this point, "You're a terrible liar Ace."

"Who says I'm lying?"

"History? Come on Ace, get on your game. Normally when I ask what a book's about, you say something like, 'The social effects of _insert event here_ had on _insert country name here_.' So if you're trying to cover, you really should have given a more convincing answer."

Rory couldn't say much because she knew he was right, so decided to ask, "Why does it matter what I'm reading?"

"It didn't, I was just trying to change the topic of conversation, but now that you're being so evasive, I want to know."

Rory cursed herself again, she really needed to get better that these things, so gushed, "I was reading about _Carnival_, and it sounds so amazing, well Brazil in general does."

"Uh huh," Logan replied.

"And Australia," she added, "You know the _Great Barrier Reef_ is supposed to be absolutely incredible. If we visit, do you think Finn would let us take out the yacht?"

"Brazil and Australia?" Logan asked.

"Yeah," she said smoothly.

Logan looked at her and accused, "You were reading about our possible honeymoon locations."

"What?"

"I repeat: You are a terrible liar."

"I want to know something about where we're going, what's wrong with that?"

"So you're going to read about every possible destination?"

"Unless you want to narrow it down for me," she said nonchalantly.

"It really bothers you that much not to know?" he asked.

"What do you think?" she asked sarcastically.

"That this is turning out to be way more entertaining than I ever imagined."

"I hate you," she pouted, causing him to laugh,

As they finished up their conversation, the waiter appeared with two appetizers, which he set in the center of the table, and the bottle of wine, which he presented to Logan before opening and pouring two glasses.

Rory started to reach for a piece off one dish, when Logan said, "That's not for you."

Rory looked at him confused and asked, "I thought we were going to share."

"We could, but that is foie gras."

"Why would you order that?"

"I happen to like it, which is why I ordered you your own appetizer."

Rory looked at other plate, not sure, then asked, "That's not what it looked like last time."

"There are different ways to prepare it, but I assure you, it's still foie gras."

"Okay, then what's mine?"

"Why don't you try it first?" he asked.

"No, I'm not falling for that again," she said, then threatened, "and don't you dare lie to me."

"You like crab?" he asked, knowing full well she did.

"Yes," she said, that did not look like crab.

"It's a crab meat spread, you can either have it on crackers or bread," he explained, gesturing to the pieces of bread and crackers in a basket the waiter had also brought to the table.

Rory reluctantly tried the spread, and gave a smile once she tasted it and admitted, "This is good."

--

Dinner had ended, and they walked back out to the car. Once it started driving, Logan looked out the window taking note of their location and asked, "Did you like dinner?"

"The food was excellent," Rory assured him, "and I really liked that it had a more relaxed atmosphere."

"Me too," he agreed. Then, deciding he couldn't wait any longer, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black piece of cloth.

"That better not be what I think it is," Rory said almost immediately. Seeing Logan just smirk at her, she said, "Logan, it's my birthday!"

"You'll love it, I promise! Remember, nothing crazy," Logan assured. She didn't look convinced, obviously remembering how this same blindfold led to her being in some crazy situations, so he reminded her, "Last time I blindfolded you, we got engaged, that was good right?"

Rory smiled, "Very good."

"Please?" he asked with a playful pout.

"Fine," she conceded, and turned to have him tie it on.

Now that she was blindfolded, everything seemed to take longer. After what felt like an hour, but was more like fifteen minutes, the car stopped, and Logan got out before helping Rory out as well.

As soon as she was outside, Rory asked, "Can I take it off?"

"Not yet," he responded and guided her slowly as she walked. Rory heard two sets of doors open and close and realized she was now inside. Logan walked her a bit further, then stopped, and untied the blindfold.

When Rory opened her eyes, she gasped, and took her time looking all around her. Once she got her bearings, she looked at Logan and asked, "Where are we?"

"The Morgan Library and Museum."

"What's that?" Rory asked, not familiar with the name.

"An institution, that among other things, features rare books and literary manuscripts."

Rory was speechless, but finally asked, "How'd we get in?"

Logan knew he had to tell her the truth, "Made a donation in your name and asked if I could bring you after hours to view the collection."

"A donation? Logan, you promised no expensive gifts," she said slightly upset.

"Rory, my family has made annual donations for over ten years. I called my Dad to ask him if he could call the director so I could bring you hear for your birthday because I knew you would love it. He agreed to speak to the director, but he also told me it was just about time to renew our membership and suggested putting the donation in your name."

"Was that his gift?" Rory asked timidly, hoping he would say yes.

"As far as I am aware," Logan assured her.

"This place is so cool!" she said, now letting herself get excited.

Rory looked around again, taking in all the old books, and then started to notice other things: art, music, manuscripts. After taking it all in, she turned to Logan, "How long can we stay for?"

Logan laughed, "I would like to sleep in my own bed tonight, so a couple of hours, but you can come back another time."

Rory smiled and gave him a kiss and then grabbed his hand, dragging him with her toward the books. The first place Rory went contained the manuscripts. The first one she looked at was _Lady Susan_ by Jane Austen.

"Logan, this was actually written by Jane Austen," she said, in awe of seeing the handwriting of one of her favorite authors.

Logan looked at the notes, under the display and commented, "It says it was written in 1793-94."

"It's so old," she commented in a daze.

"Sorry Ace, I tried, but you can only sniff things that aren't encased," he said, gesturing to the protective casing surrounding the artifact, causing Rory to roll her eyes at him.

She turned back to the manuscript in front of her to read it, before turning to the next item, a handwritten manuscript by Charles Dickens, _A Christmas Carol in Prose: Being a Ghost Story of Christmas_. She continued through the section and eventually reached the historical manuscripts and saw Galileo's notes on the satellites of Jupiter.

These seemed to draw Logan's interest, because he said, "I'm always amazed at how much they figured out about the solar system just by studying the sky."

"It is astounding," Rory agreed, and took a few moments to study the diagrams drawn in the notes.

Rory finished looking at the section and then found her way over to the books and bindings. The first thing she saw was a Guttenberg Bible, but didn't look for long, having seen one at Yale. Next was Augustine's _De civitate dei_, a 1475 Venice print of the fifth century work. It was in Latin, so Rory could only study the piece, but she was familiar with the topics contained in it, mostly a discussion of the Pagan and Christian religions. She continued to walk around the building, and while she spent the majority of her time looking at the books and manuscripts, she also looked through the art, music, and children's books collections.

It was after midnight when Logan looked at his watch, "Ace, it's after midnight, don't you think we should be heading home?"

"Logan there is so much to see, I haven't even gotten to the library. Can you imagine what they would have there?"

"I'm sure it would be fascinating, but I would also like to sleep tonight."

"Why would you bring me to this place and expect to leave before I've fully explored?"

"Must be temporary insanity."

"Must be," she said seriously.

"You can always come back, it's not going anywhere," he assured her. He knew this was a risk when he brought her here, and didn't want to cut her enjoyment short, but after everything they'd done in the last two days, they both needed a good night's sleep.

"I promise."

--

Sunday morning, Logan woke up and saw Rory was still asleep, so he rolled on his side to look at her. As he did, he thought back over the weekend, smiling at the fact he actually got her to skinny dip. With this in mind, he got of bed and went to the study before returning to bed with a pad of paper and pen.

He settled in, making his list and occasionally looking Rory. He didn't notice any movement from Rory's side of the bed so was a little surprised when she asked, "What are you doing?"

Looking at her quickly, he smiled then turned back to write something down, before answering, "Making a list."

Rory sat up a little, "A pro/con list? I'm so proud."

"No, just a plain list."

"Okay, slightly less proud," she teased, and moved closer to get a look.

He noticed what she was doing and waited for the comment, which came a moment later, "Things Rory needs to do?"

"Yes," he said seriously.

"What are the chances I would ever do half the things you have on this list?"

"Have you read any of the list?"

"A few, and I'm telling you right now, I will **never** do two or nine."

Logan looked at the list and saw _#2-Have sex at work, #9-Bungee Jump_ and rolled his eyes, then moved the list out of her sight.

"Hey," she shouted, "I was reading that."

"You're being judgmental."

"How?"

"You're ruling out things before you even really think about them and why they would be fun."

"You think it would be fun to," Rory reached for the list wanting to make sure she got it right, "Handcuff and blindfold me during sex."

"Ah, number four," he said with a devilish smile, "And to answer your question, yes."

"Let me amend that, would it really be fun for **me**?"

"Yes."

"No!"

"Why not?"

"You want to know why I don't want to be handcuffed and blindfolded?" she asked in disbelief.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you, but that is so not the point."

"It's not? Because by your reaction a moment ago, it sounds like you're worried I would do something you wouldn't want me too."

"So this is like the trust fall?" Rory asked, trying to figure out the appeal.

"A kinkier version of it, but yes, I guess you could compare the two."

Rory paused realizing there was a bit of truth to what he said about trust, but also knew without a doubt that she did trust him. Curious why else he wanted to do it, she asked, "Why handcuffs and a blindfold?"

"You like to have control over everything: I think that once you relaxed, you would enjoy not having to do anything but enjoy yourself."

"And the blindfold?"

"Heightens your other senses," he said with a smirk. "Don't worry, we'd start off with each by themselves before combining them." When she didn't say anything right away, he dared to ask, "Does that mean you'll do it?"

Rory shot him a look and got out of bed and announced, "I need coffee."

Logan laughed, realizing she hadn't said no. Maybe with some time and persuasion, he could talk her into it, but for now, he flipped the page and continued his list.

--

**_A/N: That was a whole 53 pages (longest yet). We never intended this chapter to be so long, just started writing and were having fun with it, so we hope you had fun reading it as well. For all the F/B fans out there, hope you enjoyed there scenes and before anyone asks there is no connection between Finn and the Library. The Morgan Library is a real library in New York City. Speaking of the city, our apologies to anyone who knows NYC and finds mistakes as we talk about it, neither one of us have visited much and even then it was a few years back. Also, this chapter was meant to be a break from the wedding planning and work drama, for the friends to get away and have some fun and celebrate Rory's birthday at the same time. If it's not your favorite, stick around and we'll be back to the other stuff in the next chapter. Now that I've rambled, please review and let us know what you thought!_**


	33. Grandma's Pearls

Monday morning, Rory headed for work, hoping that this week would be better than the last. When she reached the elevator, Jacob, the reporter from Entertainment who had done the Hep Alien article, was also in it.

"Hey Jacob," she greeted.

"Hi Rory, how are you holding up?"

She smiled, "I'm fine, and besides, not much I can do to change it right?"

"If it makes you feel any better, I've heard not everyone cares. Last week, I heard two of the reporters talking, Nicole and Lou I think, they seem to think that as long as you do you share of the work, there's no reason why they should care."

"That actually does make me feel better," Rory replied.

"Did you at least have a good weekend, enjoy your time spent away from the office?"

"It was fantastic," she teased as the doors opened letting them off, "Thanks."

"Bye," Jacob said, heading towards his desk.

Rory went to her own desk and had time to check her messages and email before it was time for the City department's weekly staff meeting. When it was over, she was disappointed to see her assignments were just as boring as they had been the week before.

As everyone was leaving the room, Rory hung back, deciding she needed to talk to Mike. After everyone else had left, she asked, "Mike?"

"Something I can help you with?" he asked directly, but with a tone of forced indifference.

"I'm wondering about my assignments recently," she explained.

"What about them?" he asked, curious as to what she would say.

"They're fine, but do you think you could give me something more challenging," Rory said, then quickly added, "you know, to help me improve."

"Isn't it the job of the editor to decide how to distribute the work?" Mike asked.

"Yes," Rory conceded.

"And didn't you specifically say that you didn't want to be treated differently."

"Yes."

"Then, the senior reporters get the top stories and so forth down the chain. You're the newest reporter so you get the bottom stories," he explained.

Rory wanted to scream, but contained herself and said, "It wasn't working that way until last week."

"That's how it's normally done, anything else was an unintentional oversight."

Rory knew this was bull so she challenged, "When a new reporter comes on staff does that mean I'll get bumped up?"

"It's not automatic: I'll have to evaluate your articles."

"If you assign articles based on our writing, why can't I earn better articles now?"

"You're the rookie reporter," Mike reminded her.

"But you just said…" Rory started, but stopped since the conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"I can't have them thinking I'm playing favorites," Mike stated, but Rory sensed he wasn't the least bit interested in her well being.

"And you can't do that without holding back my career?" she asked.

"Most people spend at least a few months at the bottom before they adjust to their work here."

"So why did you give me better articles after a few weeks?"

"I wanted to see what you could do."

"Then why back track my progress now?"

"You said you didn't want to be seen as getting favoritism," he reminded her.

"No, I said I didn't want to be treated any differently. Refusing to give me articles because of who I am is just as wrong as giving me articles I don't deserve for the same reason."

Mike realized this approach wasn't working and pointed out, "You and I both know that everyone on staff has been talking about you."

"Okay…" Rory said, not sure where he was going with this.

"I can't lose control of the staff and have them questioning my authority, this had to be done. This is for your own good, it'll make things easier on you."

Rory just bit her tongue and nodded before leaving the room.

When she did, she was met by Bri, who asked, "Everything okay?"

"Ever since Mike found out who I am, he's given me the worst assignments. I mean sidewalk construction? That's worse than the parking lot repaving article Paris made me write in high school."

"Sorry."

Rory laughed, "It's not your fault."

"Still, I wish there was something I could do," Bri offered, sympathetically.

Rory gave her a half smile, "Don't worry about it; I'm just glad this hasn't caused you any problems."

"Nothing I can't handle," Bri promised.

"Well if they start asking questions, just answer them. I'll feel bad if they drag you into this."

"It's fine," Bri said again.

"And if you need to get out of here, come find me, and we can go for coffee."

Bri laughed, and teased, "So nice of you to offer to take me for coffee, that would be such the sacrifice for you."

"Would you rather I offer to take you for tea?" Rory shot back.

"God no," Bri shuttered.

"I rest my case," Rory said with a smile and made her way back to her desk.

Rory settled into her desk with her assignments spread out in front of her and began doing some research so she could submit photo requests and call for interviews.

--

Late that morning, Bri headed to the break room for some coffee, and was close to the door when she heard people talking.

"I heard the finance editor is leaving."

"Do you think they'll promote someone or hire in?"

"Well, it seems like since Huntzberger bought the paper, they've been bringing people in from their more established papers," the first person said again.

"It's been five years. Don't you think they'll eventually start promoting from within to promote goodwill among the staff? No time like the present right?"

"Who cares about who they hire, it's not like we work in that department. Did you see Julie's new hair cut! What was she thinking?"

"It's not that bad!"

"It's so frizzy and out of control."

"Curly hair can be difficult."

"Maybe, but take that graphic designer on three, she has great hair. Now Bri, well hers is okay if you like that look, which I don't, but still even that would be better."

Bri continued around the corner, not letting their conversation affect her mood and recognized Sam who was one of the other photographers, Danielle who was a writer, and Alison to be the ones talking. When they saw Bri, they stopped immediately, and glanced at each other.

Ever since Bri had started working at the paper, Sam had been trying to flirt with her, but she never seemed to respond. Sam didn't want to get rejected so he always kept it subtle. Trying to be nonchalant and cool about it, he smiled at her and asked, "Hey Bri, how was your weekend?"

"It was fine," she said a little suspicious, "How was yours?"

"Good, just hung out with some friends. So what did you do?"

In the interest of keeping the conversation short and being clear that she was unavailable, Bri said, "I went out Friday night for Rory's birthday then I spent the rest of weekend with my _boyfriend_."

"Her birthday?" Danielle asked surprised.

"Yes," Bri confirmed, knowing they would just keep asking questions if she didn't.

"Where?" Alison asked, wanting to know where the rich partied.

"On a yacht," Bri answered, figuring that information couldn't hurt.

"You were on the Huntzberger's yacht?" Alison was shocked, "What's it like?"

"No, not the Huntzberger yacht," Bri corrected her.

"Tell me they did not rent something, I would be so disappointed," Alison said with disgust.

"They borrowed it from a friend of theirs," Bri said, hoping to not bring up Finn.

"A male friend?" Alison asked hopeful.

"Yes."

"Is he rich? Oh, what am I saying, he has a yacht, of course he's rich…Is he cute?"

Bri did not want her thinking she could go after Finn, and answered, "I think my boyfriend is very cute."

"Boyfriend?" Sam asked, "The lunch guy?"

"His name's Finn," Bri snapped.

"Right," Sam said, slightly bitter from having the information confirmed.

"How big is his yacht?" Alison asked, hoping to get an idea about how rich this guy was.

"The company's yacht," Bri corrected, hoping it would take the focus off Finn and realizing even more so why this made Rory uncomfortable.

"Excuse me?"

"The yacht, it's for his family's company. It's being taken to Australia."

Remembering something, Danielle asked, "Morgan Corporation, right?"

"Yeah," Bri said, not able hide her surprise.

"There was an article about some new extravagant yacht that was in harbor for a few days."

"Oh," Bri admitted, she hadn't realized it would make the paper.

"Okay enough about the yacht, what'd you do?" Alison asked.

"We had dinner, her close friends and mom were there," Bri said, hoping this would help them see Rory as normal.

"Her mom was there?" Danielle asked confused. She would have never wanted her mom at a birthday party she was having with all of her friends, that would have been so weird.

"Lorelai's cool," Bri defended quickly. The few occasions Bri had met her, she had been very friendly and told her that if she ever needed the ear of someone who had been a single mother, she'd be happy to listen. And although Bri didn't know her well, the offer meant a lot to her.

Ignoring the last exchange, Alison looked at her expectantly and impatiently asked, "And?"

"And what?" Bri asked confused, her mind had been wandering to her conversations with Lorelai.

"What else did you do? Who was there? Tell me something good," Alison said, convinced there had to be better gossip from that type of party.

"We talked, had cake, and went to bed," Bri summed up. This was more of a stretch, but no way was she even mentioning that they played a drinking game.

"That's so boring."

"Just because they have money doesn't mean they don't live fairly normal lives. Not all rich people are Paris Hilton types," Bri pointed out.

"Then, what's the fun of being rich?" Alison asked, obviously not understanding.

Ignoring her, Bri asked, "Anything else?"

"No," Sam said, turning back to Danielle and Alison, while Bri left after filling up her coffee mug.

Alison turned to the pair and, eyes gleaming, asked, "What kind of gift do you think she got from Huntzberger for her birthday. I bet it was something really expensive."

"Diamonds?" Danielle asked.

"I'm sure she has plenty by now," Alison scoffed, wishing she had some.

"A car?" Sam suggested.

"A house?" Danielle asked.

They were trying to think of other possibilities when Rob, the other photographer, popped in to tell Danielle he could go now to take the pictures she needed. Hearing this, she said a hurried goodbye and followed him out.

Sam and Alison were still talking when Sue wandered in. Seeing them, she asked, "Anything good?"

Sam grinned and filled her in on what Bri had told them earlier. Thinking about it, she suggested, "Maybe a trip somewhere," which spurred the conversation again.

--

Jacob was heading to the break room to heat up his lunch, but when he did, he walked in on a group talking. They either didn't notice or didn't care he was there because they didn't even miss a beat in their conversation. It didn't take Jacob long to realize they were talking about Rory. Everyone on their floor knew it was the hot topic, so much so that the information had spread throughout most of the building.

Jacob, thus far, had stayed out of it. Mostly, because it seemed to be an issue between the City staff, but also because he really didn't want to get caught up in it. While he was using the microwave, he heard more of the conversation and against his better judgment decided to say something, "Before you found out who she was engaged too, what did you think of her?"

"Excuse me," Alison asked, surprised that he was even asking them a question.

"You keep complaining about her, but what has she even done wrong? She comes to work, and as far as I've heard, she gets her work done on time and writes her articles well."

"That's not the point."

"No? Then what is?"

"She didn't tell us."

"So? Why should she, you're doing exactly what she was worried about. You're validating her choice to keep it a secret. This is what she didn't want."

"What makes you an expert on her?" Sam asked

"I'm not saying I am."

"You seem to think you know her well enough."

"I ran into her outside of work and held an actual conversation with her. But also I've seen her around the office, it doesn't seem like she's doing anything wrong."

"Where did you see her?" Alison asked, wondering what place they could possibly have in common.

"Why does it matter?"

"I just can't imagine that you would ever frequent the same places the rich do."

"It was just a regular place," he assured her.

"Where?"

"A concert."

"What concert?"

"Hep Alien."

"From the article?" Sue asked.

"You know there was a rumor going around that Junior had final approval on the article. Everyone thought it was because he knew the band, wanted to make sure they were given a good review, help them out. That's not why, was it?"

Jacob knew he had to be careful with what said and decided on, "I promised I would keep his personal life to myself."

"And you didn't care that she lied?" Sue asked.

"I didn't know much about her except that she was new and her name was Ella, I didn't work with her."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Alison questioned, not believing anyone would keep something like that to themselves.

"She was nice, I didn't want to cause problems for her."

"Why are you talking now?" Sue asked.

"You guys are just standing their ragging on a girl who has done absolutely nothing wrong. If she was so horrible, you would have disliked her before you found out who she was engaged to," he reminded them and left the silent room.

Once he was gone, Sue said, "Maybe he has a point."

"How could you even think that?" Alison asked in disbelief, and left the room as well. Sam didn't say anything, but also left the room.

--

Friday finally arrived; Rory had an interview across town at noon to get a few comments for the only article she hadn't submitted. As she was gathering her notes for the story, she remembered the policy about leaving when you're done with your assignments on a Friday, so she packed up the rest of her things as well. She thought for a second about telling Mike she was leaving for the weekend, but knew it wasn't necessary. She also wasn't about to initiate a conversation that could disturb her fairly peaceful day. The interview and her article didn't end up taking long, so she was finished in just under an hour.

Seeing the time, Rory decided to call Logan who answered after a few rings, "Hey, Ace."

"Hi Logan."

"Something up?" Logan asked curious, it wasn't often that Rory called him during the day.

"Are you busy?" Rory asked, hoping he would say no.

"I always have work I can do, but not really, why?"

"I'm done for the day..."

"You're done? It's just after one," Logan reminded her, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence.

"I know, but I had an interview earlier, and now all my articles are turned in, so I'm officially done for the week."

"Don't let your boss find out, he might start giving you more work" Logan teased.

"Or work that actually requires thought," Rory countered, knowing Logan was well aware at this point of how annoyed she was with her most recent assignments, then added, "I don't think the owners would be too happy if they knew talent like mine were being wasted."

"You should tell them," Logan joked.

Rory rolled her eyes and decided to get back on topic, so asked, "So, I was calling to ask if you wanted to continue with the boredom, better known as work, or leave and experience the fun that is me?"

"You're awfully confident of your ability to keep things exciting..." he challenged.

"I grew up with Lorelai, do you know how easily she gets bored?" Rory shot back.

"So what does playing hooky with Miss Gilmore entail?" he asked, sure there was something more to her call.

"Well, I'm at the coffee shop I found by Carnegie Hall" she started.

"Of course you are," he teased, she always seemed to be at one coffee shop or another, but that one was one of her favorites.

"I'll have you know I came here just as much for the internet access as I did the coffee."

"Keep telling yourself that," he said in a sarcastic tone.

Ignoring him, she moved onto her point, "I was thinking we could go shopping."

"And you called me because…" he started, not quite as interested as he was before.

"Logan, you cut class all the time for pointless things, this is just the girly grown up version," Rory assured him.

"The key word in that is girl, why aren't you calling Steph?" he asked, he wouldn't feel bad leaving work, but shopping was not his idea of fun.

"I can't," Rory said in a voice that almost made her pout visible over the phone.

"Why not, she'll use any excuse to shop," Logan pointed out.

"Part of it is for her, besides, I thought we should do this together."

"You know, as a writer, you'd think you would know the dangers of only using pronouns."

"Did I confuse you?" Rory asked, after taking a moment to think about his last complaint.

"Yes, besides Steph's birthday was last month, what could you possibly need to buy her?"

"Let me try this again," Rory teased, realizing Logan had no idea what she was talking about.

"Okay," Logan said, playing along.

"Logan, would you please accompany me shopping in order to buy gifts for our wedding party," she asked in a deliberately formal voice.

"Ah," Logan replied, "well, when you put it that way..."

"So you're coming?" she asked for clarification.

Glancing at his desk, he said, "Yes, I'll call you when I'm close."

--

A half an hour later, the couple was walking through midtown. Logan had Frank with him today so Rory could put her laptop in the car, allowing her to carry her coffee in one hand and hold one of Logan's in the other.

"What are you getting the girls?" Logan asked.

"I thought a necklace and earrings to match their dress would be nice and helpful."

"_Tiffany's_?" Logan said, thinking it would be the best place to find something.

Rory nodded and then looked at Logan, who seeing her question, pointed in the direction they needed to go. Rory was still getting to know parts of the city, but Logan had spent a lot more time there, specifically time with Steph and Honor, so he practically had the shopping district memorized.

As they started to walk, Rory asked, "What are you getting the guys?"

"Haven't thought about it much," he admitted honestly.

"Any ideas?"

"What am I supposed to get them?" Logan asked rhetorically, then continued, "They're not girls, the male equivalent to jewelry, like a watch or something, won't get them excited?"

"Okay what about something else, there have to be standard gifts," Rory offered, but not giving an example.

"Like bar accessories or a flask? Do you really want to encourage the groomsmen to drink before the ceremony?"

"Good point," Rory conceded, then asked, "What about a money clip."

"Don't use them much, but trust me, we all have more than enough when we want to."

"Come on Logan, you have to get them something."

"I know, and I'll keep thinking while we shop for the girls," Logan promised.

"You're going to help?" Rory asked, somewhat surprised.

"I think I've proven myself more than capable of picking out jewelry," Logan defended. They were still walking when Logan asked, "Have you ever seen _Phantom of the Opera_?"

"I've seen the movie and read the book," Rory answered.

"But not on stage?" Logan asked.

"No, why?"

"Well, one of the paper managers at the _Times_ had taken the company's box tickets to see it next Thursday, but he told me today he couldn't use them. Before I offered them to someone else, I thought you might like to go."

"Really?" she asked excitedly.

Logan laughed, "If I would have known you wanted to go that bad, I would have bought tickets sooner."

"I know I'm not usually a big musical fan, but I've wanted to see it live for a while now."

"Why haven't you?" Logan asked.

"Before I met you, we didn't make it up to New York often, and when we did it was for something special like for my mom to see the Bangles concert or me to see Kushner's musical, which was amazing."

"You've mentioned that," Logan teased.

"And _Phantom_ never came to Hartford."

"So you want to go?" Logan asked as they walked into the store.

"What have I been saying?" Rory asked sarcastically.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Once inside, Rory started looking through the cases at the various stones and finally said, "I think sapphires."

As Rory led the way to that section, Logan asked, "Why didn't you tell me you wanted to go? I would have bought tickets."

"You don't like the theater."

"I've taken you before."

"I know, but contrary to popular belief, I don't try to torture you, so I try and keep my theatre requests to a minimum," Rory explained, and not giving Logan a chance to respond, turned to him and asked, "Anything catch your eye?"

To Logan's surprise, they had a wider selection of sapphire necklaces than he expected so asked, "Do you want to get them all to be the same one or different?"

"For the necklaces, how about something different, and we can decide about the earrings after."

Hearing their conversation, the sales girl perked up thinking of the commission she would get off the sale, "How many necklaces are you looking for today?"

"Four," Rory replied, but not taking her eyes off the case.

"Do you see anything you like?"

Logan and Rory started picking out different necklaces and soon they had almost a dozen lying out. They then took a moment to look them all over.

As they continued looking, Rory kept thinking about the musical and remembering something she had learned when she read the book, asked, "Did you know that _Phantom_ takes place at the _Palais Garnier_?"

"I did," Logan replied then asked, "Did you visit there while you were in Paris?"

"We saw it, but didn't go inside," Rory answered and then commented, "Since we're doing navy blue and silver, the jewelry should be a silver color," this eliminated three.

One caught Rory's eye, it was an outer circle of sapphires with an inner circle of diamonds. As she showed Logan, she said, "Lane."

Logan agreed, so they set it asides and continued to look, then commented, "I'll take you to Paris sometime, and we'll go on the tour, you'll love it"

"You've been on the tour?" she asked surprised, that was not normally his thing.

"Three times," Logan admitted.

Logan spotted one that was in the shape of an eight, with sapphires along the bottom and diamonds up to the top. Picking it up and turned to Rory, "For Honor?"

Rory smiled, "I think she'll love it."

Once it was set aside, Rory repeated, "Three times?" just to make she wasn't hallucinating.

"The first time I went I think I was eleven. My parents dragged the whole family to Europe for a vacation, but of course when we got there my dad and grandfather disappeared in meetings and my mom couldn't be bothered and spent the entire time at the spa. That left my grandma, Honor and me…she would have loved you," Logan explained and then not missing a beat picked an s-shaped with alternating sapphires and diamonds for Steph.

"Your grandma?"

"Yeah, you know she never really liked my mom, and if for no other reason, she'd like you because you drive my mom up the wall," Logan said, but his tone made it clear that she would have liked her for more reasons than that.

"Must have been a brilliant woman," Rory teased, and then asked, "Do you see anything for Paris?"

"You're seriously asking me what jewelry would best suit Gellar?"

"Never mind," Rory replied with amusement and turned back to decide between a square and an elongated teardrop shaped pendant.

"She was brilliant," Logan agreed with her earlier statement, "You know she was the person who taught me the art of mischief."

"You mean pranks?"

"If you must call them that, yes. I think the best one we ever pulled together was when I was about ten. We waited until Dad and Grandpa were out of town and had Honor beg my mom to help her find a dress to get her out of the house. While they were gone, we had all the mirrors replaced with clown mirrors, you know the ones that add ten or twenty pounds to your body," he explained, and seeing that she understood continued, "We left them up for a few days, and let me tell you, the drama it caused when her friends were over…She was ranting the whole time, and we finally had them taken down the day before the men returned.

By the time he was finished, Rory was cracking up at the story. Not only was it a good prank, she was having too much fun imagining Shira's reaction. Eventually, she calmed down enough to say, "That is a great story."

"It is, but not where I was going when I started."

"It wasn't?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, so while we were in Paris, she took me and Honor to a bunch of different places, and one place was the _Palais Garnier_. Her parents moved here from France a few years before she was born, but they still spent a lot of time in France and she knew Paris well. She said she always thought it was beautiful, ever since she read the book when she was young. The building fascinated her, and it became one of her favorite places to visit and wanted to show it to us."

"Did she take you back again?" Rory asked, remembering he said he'd been on the tour three times.

"My Dad was acquiring the London paper the summer after she passed away. I had just finished my freshman year. Since Honor and I were both in high school by that point, we no longer required constant supervision so Honor arranged for the jet to take us to Paris one day, and we went on the tour again. The last time I went by myself, it was while I was living in London. I missed you so much my first month there especially with my dad was constantly hounding me about things. I had a meeting in Paris, and I was thinking about everything and found myself there again."

"Logan, I'd love to visit it with you," Rory said seriously,

Finally, Rory settled on the teardrop shape one that was outlined in diamonds with a strand of sapphires hanging vertically down the middle for Paris.

Now that all four necklaces were lying out, Logan asked, "Earrings?"

"Well, studs would match them all nicely, but I think something longer would be cute too."

Logan spotted a pair that would match all the necklaces, they had a simple curved top and with a sapphire at the bottom, and asked for four pairs.

The woman who had been helping them asked, "Is there anything else I can help you find?"

Rory replied, "Give us a few minutes to look around," to which she received a polite smile.

As Rory left the counter, Logan asked, "Anything in particular we're looking for?"

"I thought while we were here we could take a look at the men's section, I'm not sure if they'll have anything, but at least it could help with ideas," Rory reasoned.

Logan conceded and said, "Let's head upstairs."

Rory had been thinking about what Logan had said, and remembered when she had asked him to watch the movie with her. Not only had he seen it, he remembered the story and didn't complain nearly as much as he normally would have when watching a musical. Curious, she asked, "Is that why you like the musical as well?"

"It's not the same. My parents used to drag us all to the theatre."

"So you've seen it on stage?"

"Yes, I've seen it on stage. And while it is a little sentimental, it's not the same as the Opera House, that was just ours. My parents dragged Honor and me to the live version. It wasn't fun, it was just another forced society thing we had to do. But, if I had to see a musical, it'd probably be _Phantom_, I mean the show has fire."

Rory shook her head, but refrained from saying anything because they had reached the men's section. There were the typical things that she and Logan had discussed earlier, but a lot of others as well. Rory and Logan walked around the room to see what they had.

The conversation about Logan's grandmother had left a somber silence. She knew his last comment about the fire had been truthful, but was also his attempt to lighten the mood and hoping to keep it that way, Rory asked, "Well, you seem to be a walking encyclopedia of the place, what else is there?"

Thinking, Logan replied, "When it was being built, they hit swampy ground underneath and spent eight months pumping the water out. Despite all that, a subterranean lake remained."

"Okay, I didn't know that," Rory commented

"It's completed in 1875, and legend has it that while it was being built the Emperor's wife asked Garnier whether the building would be built in the Greek or Roman styles."

"What'd he say?" Rory asked, having a feeling the answer would be entertaining.

"It is in the Napoleon III style Madame!"

This made Rory give a small laugh, "So it's not any one style?"

"It's a Neo-Baroque. It had columns, multicolored marble, statues, the works. Inside the auditorium, the walls are covered with gold leaf, nymphs, and of course the famous chandelier."

"Can't forget about that," Rory teased.

"Did you know it weighs over six tons?"

Rory just gasped, that was a lot, and finally said, "I hope it's secure."

"There haven't been any problems yet," Logan assured her.

Mention of the chandelier had her thinking about the musical again, "Have you seen a performance there?"

"Well it was built as the home of the l'Opera de Paris. They no longer perform there, but it's still used for performances like ballets and concerts," Logan told her. After a few moments, Logan said, "My grandmother did though, and said it was amazing."

"I'm sure it was," Rory agreed.

They kept walking, and when Logan turned to her to ask a question, he noticed she was no longer at his side. Curious, he walked back to where she was and asked, "Find something?"

"Just some things I never would have thought of."

"Anything in particular?" he asked.

"Not really, but if I had to pick it would be the pocketknife or cigar holder."

"I think a knife would be almost dangerous as the alcohol."

"Almost?" Rory asked, convinced the knife was far more dangerous.

Logan laughed, "Drinking would make them do something inappropriate at our wedding, a pocketknife, at worst, would result in some blood on their tuxes."

"You really think they'd hurt each other?"

"No, but I can see them getting bored, then start playing with their knife, next thing you know they cut themselves giving you blood which inevitably would end up on their tuxes."

Rory just shook her head in fascination at the image Logan created, but knowing it could happen, relented, "Okay the cigar holder, that doesn't have any sharp points."

Logan seemed to think for a minute and then say, "That's actually a good idea."

"Really?" Rory asked surprised.

"Well not that cigar holder, but a desktop humidor would be cool."

"A what?"

"A humidor holds cigars," Logan explained as if she were a child.

"I got that part," She said exasperated.

Logan laughed at the look on her face and explained, "Ah, then a desktop humidor is something many businessmen have, as you may imagine, on their desk. They act as a decoration, but also keep cigars fresh so they can be offered to business associates at meetings. The other style is a cabinet humidor: it's a lot bigger and stands on the ground."

"Where would you buy one?"

"There are some shops around here, we can head there next."

"So nothing here?" Rory asked, wanting to make sure.

"Are you going to get the girls anything else?" Logan asked, while staring at the choices before him.

"Since it'll be December, I was thinking something they could wear with their dresses to keep them warm."

"Practical," Logan said, then asked, "When would they use them?"

"Anytime besides the actual ceremony," Rory explained. He thought about what Rory was getting the girls, and while he liked the idea he had now, he figured he should find something a little more conventional and could be used at the wedding as well. After looking a bit more, he found a tie clip that he liked and knew it wasn't something they all had too many of.

It was solid silver with a thin chain. After showing it to Rory, they asked for six; four for the groomsmen plus Mitchum and Chris. When they did this, they realized that they would need something for the mothers as well. Once they were back downstairs, they decided necklaces would work best.

"What color is Lorelai's dress?"

"It's a silvery white," Rory explained then said, "I think the color was called frost."

"So what matches best: red, green, blue…" Logan asked, wanting to narrow down the choices.

"Maybe topaz or tanzanite," Rory suggested, and as she started to glance over the choices, immediately said, "I found it."

"That quick?" Logan asked surprised, assuming Rory would spend some time to pick something out for Lorelai.

Rory nodded and showed him a necklace that had a curved center of diamonds, but then there were square shaped tanzanites spaced sideways along the edges.

Before he could even look, she told him, "There's a pair of matching earrings too."

Once he saw what Rory picked, he agreed, "They are very Lorelai," then had them added to their purchase. Once that was set he asked, "So now, something for my mom."

"Yes, and her dress is black," Rory reminded him, but didn't make a move towards any of the displays.

"I remember, any ideas?" he asked, glancing around the store for some ideas.

"No."

"No?" Logan repeated

"No. First of all, you've already bragged to me today about how you are more than capable of picking out jewelry. Second, when she criticizes it, and she will, she cannot blame it on me."

Logan almost laughed at her logic, but knew she was right so started his own hunt. Diamonds weren't appropriate and all the colored gems would stand out too much. Soon, he found himself looking at the pearls, but he wasn't sure.

"What about pearls?"

Knowing she should probably give him something, she said, "They would match."

"They don't really seem like Shira, do they?"

"If that's what you think," Rory said with a smile.

"Right," he said with a laugh, then continuing to look said, "You know my grandma had a set of pearls."

"What does that have to do with your mom?" Rory asked not seeing the connection.

Logan began reciting the story, "They were given to my grandma on her wedding day by my great-grandmother, who got them from her mother-in-law, and well you get the pattern. It's a tradition that started five generations ago when my grandfather's great-grandfather, Frederick, I believe, gave them to his wife-to-be for their wedding day."

"So a family heirloom?"

"For the wife of the heir," he specified.

"So your mom has them?"

"No," he said, and deciding they just weren't an option, he continued looking around, "I don't know when she learned about their history, I doubt it was before my parent's wedding, but I do know she was very upset when they were given to Honor and not her just before my grandmother passed."

"But she has other pearls," Rory pointed out, figuring it was true.

"Actually, she doesn't. She refuses to buy her own jewelry, drops hints to get my dad to do it, but he's never bought her pearls. If you asked me, that isn't a coincidence," Logan told her, remembering the fit she threw about not getting them.

"You know I've seen Honor wearing pearls more than once, are they the same ones?"

"Yeah, but when Honor got them my grandma told her to hold onto them until I got married, and if she liked my fiancée, pass them along to their rightful owner – the wife of the heir."

"Okay…" Rory said, not sure what else to say.

"Honor loves you, she'll be giving them to you."

"Logan, I can't accept those!"

"Ace," he sighed.

"You mentioned once that you and Honor were both close to your grandmother, Honor should keep them. I can tell they mean a lot to her."

"They do, but I know she promised my grandma she'd give them to my wife and wants to keep that promise. I'll talk to her about what you said, but I don't know what she'll say," Logan said, knowing it was something that needed to be decided between him and Honor and was going to say more when a matching necklace and earrings set with a single black pearl on each caught his eye. It seemed like an odd choice given the occasion and slightly ironic given her history with pearls, but they would go with the dress and were very tasteful.

Pointing to them, he asked Rory, "Do you think these work?"

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Rory asked rhetorically.

"Ah, yes the plausible deniability defense."

"Nothing else like it," Rory shot back then in her society voice practices, "Why no Shira, I had no idea that's what Logan picked, but they are very lovely."

"You do that all too well," Logan remarked then had the earrings added to their purchase.

"I learned from the best."

"Ah yes, Emily. I finally see the family resemblance," he commented, causing Rory to give a playful scowl.

At her scowl, Logan laughed. Realizing they were pretty much done, they went over the list of people whom they should buy gifts for, making sure they weren't forgetting anyone. Deciding they were finally done, they had everything rung up so they could pay for it and head to their next stop.

--

When they walked into the cigar shop, Rory and Logan looked at various designs of humidors displayed around the room. In the end, Logan ended up picking out one for each groomsman along with a cutter that had a matching wood handle. Once they were done, Rory decided Saks would be a good place to start looking for wraps.

They browsed the store and ended up finding silver pashminas that were pashmina wool and silk blend, deciding they would be much warmer than those made of just silk. While they were doing this, Rory spotted silver purses that she thought were cute, and Logan suggested getting them as well. Finally, they had everything and headed to the nearest register to pay.

As their purchases were being bagged, Logan asked, "Are we heading home now?"

"Not quite."

"What are we missing?" Logan asked confused, he thought they had gotten everything from the list.

"Alex's and Lily's baby shower, we haven't had a chance to get anything yet, and it's in two weeks. Next weekend, we're heading to Stars Hallow so I thought we could find something for them while we were out and for Seth's and Laura's baby too."

"Crap," Logan muttered, completely forgetting about the shower for Steph's future niece or nephew in the chaos of the last few weeks.

"It won't be that bad," Rory assured him

"What if I don't wanna?" Logan asked, pouting like a little kid.

"I went into the cigar shop, that place reeked."

"You've been around Gigi, you're much more qualified to pick out baby presents."

"Come on it'll be fun, you love a challenge, _In Omnia Partus_ remember," Rory goaded, even though she knew Logan was more than happy to cut out of work earlier.

Logan made a playful grumble then said, "I don't think the LDB had shower shopping in mind."

"You'll never know," Rory shot back. As she led them across the store, she added, "Seth is one of your closest friends, and you've known Steph for years, I just thought you could help."

"We're going shopping at Saks for a baby shower?" Logan asked confused that she wasn't heading towards an exit.

"You do realize that department stores have more than men's and lingerie sections?"

"And evening dresses," he tacked onto her list.

"Finn was cross-dressing," Rory guessed.

"You know I do buy your dresses from somewhere, and besides, I was friends with Steph for many years."

"I see you avoided the question about Finn."

"I cannot confirm or deny that accusation."

Rory rolled her eyes and promised, "Yes, they have infant and children sections."

Rory found a directory and lead them to the part of the store they needed. They walked to the back half of the store, next to the home section and across from the men's. Seeing where it was, Rory teased, "And you never knew they had a kids section?"

Logan saw what she was referencing and defended, "I come in, get what I need, and leave. I don't wander around."

"It's right across from where you would go."

"So I can be oblivious," Logan said with a shrug.

Rory just laughed and started looking around. Noticing this, Logan asked, "Anything in particular we're looking for?"

"Well we don't know the sex of either baby, so whatever we get should be gender neutral."

"So no pink or blue."

"You're so smart," Rory joked, but then added, "I'd stay away from purple as well."

"Okay, so are you thinking clothes, toys, or accessories?"

"Any would work, just look around for a bit and remember anything you like, you have good taste, I'm sure you can manage."

--

Twenty minutes later, Rory was pulling Logan over to a rack and picked up a yellow onesie with a family of ducks across the front. Showing Logan she asked, "How cute is this?"

Logan had to admit, it was cute, but baby clothes just didn't get him that excited, so dryly replied, "Absolutely adorable."

Ignoring his tone, Rory said, "I think Laura would love it, what about Seth?"

"I'm sure it's fine," Logan assured.

"Do you have something else in mind?"

Logan thought about before saying, "Well, I saw some shirts with NYU and Columbia on them."

Rory asked, "Were you thinking Yale clothes?"

Logan laughed, "No, Duke. Trust me, his parents will have Yale paraphernalia covered. "

"And you like to cause trouble?"

"Yup," Logan said with a smile, "but also I think Seth would like it, Laura too."

"Okay, what about this for Lily and Alex?"

"I think they'd like it."

"What else should we get them?" Rory asked.

"I saw some cute stuffed animals," Logan suggested.

"And a book."

"Of course," Logan teased while Rory kept the baby outfit in her hand and they walked out of the clothes section to look at the other things. Rory started looking through the books while Logan, not wanting to be there forever, said he'd go look through the animals.

Rory had been leafing through books for a few minutes when she heard someone call her name.

--

Mike didn't want to be late to his meeting, and needed to get a new dress shirt quickly. Heading to the nearest department store, he walked in and headed straight for the men's section. On his way there, he spotted someone he recognized and was surprised to see shopping.

"Rory?" Mike asked wondering why she was shopping during work hours.

"Mike," Rory replied startled, and then answered his question before he could ask, "I finished my last article after my interview and sent it to you."

"Why didn't you go back to the office?"

"My interview was right after lunch, and the rule has always been that you're done on Friday when your articles are turned in."

Mike realized that made sense, and he knew her other articles were already in, but before he could say anything something else caught his eye, "Baby clothes?"

Rory looked down at her hands and saw the yellow outfit, "Yeah."

"Well…um…so…" Mike fumbled, before just looking at her in shock.

"Oh….Mike it isn't…" Rory stuttered and tried to correct him. She knew what he was thinking, but it was so weird that she couldn't get the words out, leaving the pair to fall into a very awkward silence.

Before either could recover and say anything, Logan came around the corner asking, "Hey Ace, puppy, bear, or giraffe?" and holding three stuffed animals.

Wanting to laugh at the look on Mike's face when he heard Logan's voice, Rory broke from her trance and looked at what he was holding before deciding, "Puppy and giraffe."

Hearing this, Logan put the bear down and looked up, "Mike," he greeted, while giving Rory a curious look.

"Mr. Huntzberger," he said becoming nervous. Thinking he should say something, he added, "Congratulations."

"For what?" Logan asked, clearly not following.

"You're expecting aren't you?" he asked, now not as sure. As soon as he asked it, he started thinking about how he'd been treating Rory. She could be carrying the Huntzberger heir. He was only forty one, he could easily still be working into his sixties, and by then, the kid would be in his twenties…the kid could be his boss…

"No," Logan said clearly, "some friends of ours are."

"I'm so sorry sir, I just thought…" Mike fumbled, but relaxing a bit from his early revelation and figuring it would be a few years before that happened, he would be retired before the kid started working for the company.

"It's fine," Logan assured, but then decided to turn the tables, "What are you doing here, it's before four."

"I had to run some paperwork to corporate, but while I was out got a stain on my shirt, and have a dinner meeting with advertisers for the section so stopped here to get a replacement before I meet them."

Logan wasn't sure what to make of his story, until he glanced down and saw the evidence of his story. Giving him, what he hoped was a non-threatening smile, he said, "Don't let me keep you. I wouldn't want to make you late for dinner, need to keep the advertisers happy."

Mike nodded and said, "I'll do my best," before heading towards the dress shirts.

When Mike left, Logan turned to see Rory fidgeting with the outfit. Looking her over, Logan sighed, "What's wrong?"

"What?" she asked, looking up from her hands.

"Something's bothering you," he observed.

"He looked shocked at the idea that I could be pregnant."

Logan studied her for a few seconds, before asking, "Are you?"

"Logan, no!" Rory almost yelled, shocked that he asked.

"Then what's wrong?" he asked truthfully, not wanting to give her time to over think his reaction.

"Can we not talk about this at the store?" Rory asked, pleading with her eyes for him to say yes.

After a few more quiet minutes, Rory had decided on a baby book for each couple. They took those along with the outfit and stuffed animals up to the register and paid before making their way out of the store to where Frank was waiting. From there, they decided to stop for dinner, picking a Pizzeria, where they ate and boxed the leftovers before heading home.

--

They walked into their apartment, setting everything they bought in one of the spare rooms, and went to their own to change.

Once Rory was done, she walked out to find Logan already sitting on the couch. Sitting down next to him, she nervously said, "I want to talk to you about something."

"Sure," Logan said. From the look on her face, he was curious to see where this was going.

"I have my yearly appointment at the gynecologist next week," she explained. Ever since she had seen it on her calendar the other day, she knew she needed to talk to Logan.

Logan had no idea what that had to do with him, but could tell there was something else she wanted to ask, and went with, "I'll come with you if that's what you want."

Rory almost laughed at his offer. She knew he was just trying to be nice and thinking of what she just said, his offer kind of made sense, but it was still funny, "Do you even know what goes on at that appointment?"

"They give you a pelvic exam," Logan recited, then thinking of what that entails, asked, "Your doctor's a girl right?"

"Yes," Rory said, still laughing at his face, "Do you know what they do during a pelvic exam?"

"Check things," Logan said lamely.

Rory just shook her head, but not wanting to get into it said, "Logan, that's sweet, but really, you don't need to go. That's not what I was going to say."

"Okay what?"

"Since we're in New York, I'm seeing a new doctor here."

"But still a girl, right?"

"Yes," Rory assured with an eye roll. "They'll ask me to fill out a form about my medical history of course, but they ask a bunch of other things during the exam like if I've ever been pregnant or if I'm currently sexually active."

"Yes," Logan interjected and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"If I ever want to have kids…"

"Really?" Logan asked surprised that they would ask a question like that.

"Well, certain forms of birth control are easier to go off of then others. They want you to use the best method for your circumstances, and because some of them take longer for you to become fertile again once you stop, they ask about any plans you have for kids so you can plan accordingly."

"So you want to talk about having kids?" Logan asked, this time seeing why it was important for her to at least know some of the basics.

"I know that we both want kids," Rory said, being definite about the topic.

"Yes," Logan said realizing why she brought up the pill and wanting to be clear that he wanted kids.

"But we haven't really talked about it beyond the hypothetical," Rory said, still looking anxious.

"I guess now's as good a time as any right?" Logan asked, trying to help her relax.

"Yeah."

Logan regarded her for a minute, noticing how she was fidgeting and looking nervous, and thinking back to the conversation at the store, asked, "Ace, are you sure you're not pregnant?" It wouldn't be a crisis if she was, a surprise maybe, but not a crisis.

"No," she said, but this time looking much more serious.

Regarding her carefully, he finally relented, saying "Okay. But if you were, even though it'd be a surprise, it'd be a good thing okay." He didn't want his answer to be taken the wrong way or give her any reason to think he didn't want to have a family with her.

After hearing Logan's response, Rory smiled and relaxed a bit before remembering that she didn't want to talk about a surprise pregnancy so she wondered, "But when were you thinking for a non-surprise…"

"I figured we would get married and then have kids."

"No set time?" Rory asked.

Logan thought for a few minutes. He knew that Rory and Lorelai were really close and that was partially because they were so close in age and grew up together. And while he knew that was a unique situation, he'd rather have that than anything like what he or his friends experienced growing up. His father and grandparents were all older when he was born; in fact, his dad was 34 at the time, and he had always wished he had more time to spend with his grandma before she passed away. Thinking that being younger would help, he finally responded, "Anywhere from after we get married to five or so years after."

"You want to have them all before five years is up?" Rory asked not sure how she felt about that prospect.

Logan had to hold in a laugh when he saw the look on her face, "I would like to have one before five years is up."

"Just one?" Rory questioned, a little surprised by it.

"I know I want to have one," Logan said, not sure how much else to say.

"But you'd like to have more?" Rory guessed, but from his voice, she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"If it were up to me, yes. One is fine if that's what you want, and I know it's something we need to talk about, but I'd prefer to have more."

"Why? I mean, I'm not against more, it just seems like you've thought about this a lot," Rory commented.

"I just think that the only thing my parents did right was have more than one child because I am so lucky I had Honor growing up. I fully intend for us to have a better relationship with our kids than my parents did with Honor and me, but it will never be the same as a sibling relationship, and I'd like my children to have that. Plus, you've always said you liked that I was close to Honor, so…"

Rory smiled, "I think it's a good plan."

Going back to their earlier conversation, Logan pointed out, "As for when, that's something we should decide together."

"But you don't have a preference?"

Logan thought Rory felt that sometime in the first five years was too soon, so amended, "Rory, I want kids, but I know you have your job. I don't want to say something that would make you feel pressured or decide on a specific timeframe to start trying only to have it come around at a bad time for you. We don't have to set anything now; we can talk about it again in a few years."

"What if I want to talk about it sooner?"

"Really?" Logan asked a bit surprised. He thought she'd want to wait until she had her career more established,

"I liked getting to know my grandparents. I know I really didn't get to know them until high school, but when I did they were still young, allowing us to grow close and do things together. I mean my grandmother took me to Europe for a summer and my grandfather helped me with a school project in high school. I don't know if those things would have happened had they been older when my mom had me."

"You know Lorelai isn't ever going to be an old grandmother," he pointed out.

"But my grandparents are still around now, and if we have kids soon, they could have the same relationship with them that I did. I mean, it's not like waiting a few years would change too much in the immediate future, but in ten years, it may make a big difference. And besides my parents and Gigi, my grandparents are my only family, and I'd like our kids to know how great they are, and they won't stay young forever."

Smiling at the thought of their kids getting to know her family, Logan interjected, "True."

"I know my grandparents would take our children hostage for weekends at a time, take them to all kinds of fun places and spoil them. I don't want my children to miss out on growing up with them the way I did until high school. I'd feel so guilty if our kids would miss knowing my grandparents the way I do because we waited for no real reason before having them."

"That's makes sense," Logan agreed, realizing Rory really felt strongly about their children knowing her family, and added, "I think it'd be great for our kids to know Richard and Emily."

"And what about your parents, even Elias?" Rory asked, not wanting Logan to think it was all about her family, "Having kids soon will let your family know them better too."

"You're assuming I want my children to have contact with them," he said sarcastically, even thought it was slightly inappropriate for the seriousness of the conversation.

"What about your dad?"

"Depends if he's the Mitchum I've known my whole life or the pod-Mitchum of recent."

"Fair enough," Rory conceded, "but let's be optimistic and say it's pod-Mitchum."

"Then, I guess it would be nice for our kids to get to know him," Logan admitted

"So, this would make that easier too."

"What about your job?" Logan asked, "I don't want anything to get in the way, you've worked so hard to get here Rory."

Seeing Logan's concern she joked, "Lucky for me, the company I work for has an excellent maternity leave program – one of the best."

"Rory, I'm serious," Logan replied.

"I can work and have kids. My mom did it, and I can too," Rory defended. She knew Logan was just trying to be supportive of her career, but he was making it sound like she would feel hassled by having kids.

"I know," Logan agreed, "I just don't want you to feel like your career suffered because of it or that if we had waited longer to have kids, it would have been better. I know how hard you worked to get to this point, and I'd never forgive myself if having children forced you to give up all that hard work."

Rory calmed down a bit, realizing that behind his ramble, he was really just scared that she would think she needed to turn into a society wife, he wanted her to know he cared about her career too. Wanting to calm him, she said firmly, "I'm never going to just give journalism up. Maybe I'll end up freelancing or working part time. I could keep working like I am now or who knows what else, I haven't thought about it much, but I know there are options. All I know is I won't just completely give it up."

"Okay," Logan said with a smile, glad they were on the same page about her working. Once his thoughts settled, he asked, "So you want to try right away?"

"I'm not sure," Rory replied. "I was thinking that maybe for the first year what happens happens. If after that, nothing, and we still think it's a good time, we start trying."

"And by 'what happens happens' you mean?"

"We could be less careful. We can use a condom, but if we don't have one or forget, it's okay."

"Okay," Logan agreed, trying to imagine what it would be like to make love to her without a barrier which would be a first for both of them, but knew there was a good reason they hadn't yet. Thinking about the situation a bit more, he asked, "So you'll be getting another year's prescription for the pill?"

Rory could sense how curious he was about her answer. Deciding to have some fun, she shifted on the couch so she could straddle him, leaned towards his ear, and whispered, "No."

Gulping down the moan he felt coming, just from the knowledge that in a few months they would be making love without a single barrier, Logan forced himself to stay rational and ask, "Why are you going off now if we aren't trying for another year?"

Rory leaned back on his lap, putting a space between their bodies, knowing this would require a small explanation of how the female body works, "It's not instantaneous between when you stop taking the pill and being fertile again. The doctors always tell you it normally takes three to six months, but that's not definite. With that timeframe, it puts us only a few months before this time next year, and even then, we don't know how long it will take to actually get pregnant."

Logan thought about it, and hearing how excited she was by the idea only made him excited, so he said, "That sounds like a good plan. But, if you stop taking the pill, what does that mean from now until the wedding?"

Rory laughed at his almost panicked face as he thought about the prospect of not having sex for two months, and although she'd never admit it out loud, the idea didn't seem very good to her either. Finally able to stop laughing, she replied, "First, you'd still be using a condom, which is a precaution."

"Condoms can fail," Logan reminded her.

Not missing a beat, Rory said, "Second, there are other forms of birth control I can use besides the pill."

"Right," Logan said, shaking his head for not remembering that, and asked, "Anything else we need to decide now?"

"Nope, I just wanted to talk about it since we hadn't really, and I need to know what to tell the doctor," Rory assured him and gave him a kiss.

When it ended, she started to move off of him, but he grabbed her hips and pulled her back down and teased, "Where do you think you're going?"

Rory looked around the room and lamely said, "To organize my sock drawer."

Logan just smiled at her response and leaned forward to capture her lips in a deep kiss. Rory let him pull her chest up against his, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Deepening the kiss, Logan's hands moved all over her body, and not waiting long, he pushed her shirt off.

They broke their kiss momentarily as Logan moved to pull off his own shirt, and Rory gathered her senses enough to ask, "What's gotten into you?"

"We've been talking about babies."

"Yeah," Rory said, clearly aware what they had just been talking about, as she felt Logan's lips on her neck.

"What makes a baby?" he asked in between kisses.

"How does everything make you think of sex?" Rory asked, letting out a moan when he found the spot on her collarbone that drove her crazy.

Logan's hands moved to unhook her bra, and as he let it drop to the floor, said, "It's a gift," and moved to take one of her already hard nipples into his mouth.

Rory's hands moved to his hair, pulling him closer, and unconsciously grinding her hips into him. This made Logan groan and attack her breast even more. Once he was satisfied with his work, he dropped his hands to start on her zipper. Logan pushed her body, wanting her to stand up so he could get her pants off, but instead when she did, she gave him a very dangerous smirk and walked to the kitchen.

Panting, he asked, "Where are you going?" sure she was trying to kill him.

She entered the room, a glass of water in hand, and said, "To reorganize my sock drawer," and continued down the hall to their bedroom.

Logan sat on the couch in disbelief before bolting down the hallway after her. He caught her just as she was setting down the glass, allowing him to pick her up and drop her back down on the bed. Before she could move, he was one the bed, hovering over her and kissing her again.

Moaning as he ran his tongue back over her nipple, she muttered, "Or not."

Laughing, Logan let his hands move back to her zipper, this time she lifted her hips without prompting, allowing her remaining clothing to be removed easily. Logan stood up to remove his pants while Rory rolled towards his nightstand to find a condom. When she turned back, he was on the bed again, so she tore open the package. She dropped her hand to run her fingers around his head a few times causing him to take a few deep breaths. Logan moved his hand down to her folds, and finding her wet, became even more turned on. Thankfully, he soon felt her rolling the condom on. Reaching down, he grabbed her hand and lifted it over her head, leaned down to kiss her, and entered her.

Rory gasped at how quickly Logan had moved, but couldn't help but let out a sigh of satisfaction when she felt him enter her.

He held still for a moment, and when he felt Rory kiss him with hunger, he started moving his hips. As they set a tempo, Logan let his lips start traveling again, eventually finding their way back to her breasts, and soon he could feel her getting closer, but knew he was on the edge. Speeding up, he dropped a hand to play with her nub and was rewarded when he felt her tighten around him. Moving his lips back to hers, he started kissing her and soon felt her body shake in what he knew was the start of her orgasm. As her body stiffened, he thrust a few more times, and as he felt his release, he moved his lips into her hair and muttered, "I love you."

Rory wasn't sure how long they stayed there, but eventually the haze lifted from her brain, and she found the energy to whisper back, "I love you too," and kiss his neck, which was the closest thing to her. After a few more minutes, Logan kissed her sweetly on the lips and went into the bathroom and emerged a minute later with his boxers on.

Laughing at Rory who was still sprawled on the bed naked, obviously having only moved to pull the sheet to her hips, he went to her closet and found a slip for her to put on. He walked back to the bed, dropped it next to her, sat down, and asked, "You okay?"

"That was just….wow."

"Amazing, god-like, mind-blowing, extraordinary…" Logan started ticking off, thinking her description of wow, didn't do it justice.

Rory just laughed, and not wanting to boost his ego said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think it'd been weeks since we had sex."

Smirking, he smoothly replied, "What can I say, you bring it out of me."

Rory rolled her eyes and reached for the slip, pulled it on then reached for her water. After taking a long drink, she looked at the clock, and seeing it was still fairly, early she asked, "So what now?"

"Movie?" he asked, knowing anything that required almost no energy would be best.

"I'll get the left over pizza and make popcorn and coffee, you grab a movie" she said, heading to the kitchen, before returning and settling onto the bed next to Logan.

--

Rory woke up the next morning and rolled over to see Logan fast asleep, but as her body pressed into his, she could also feel that he was aroused. Grinning, she reached down and started stroking him through his boxers, which caused him to respond in his sleep. She continued, slowly and lightly rubbing him then stopped, causing his eyes to snap open. Seeing the guilty look on Rory's face, he pulled her on top of him and started kissing her.

He kissed down her and was pushing the straps off her shoulders when he felt her hands wander to resume what they had started earlier. They continued to tease each other, Logan's hand rubbing her thigh and pushing the slip up over her hips as Rory's hand snaked inside his boxers to grasp him. The foreplay kept going, until Logan knew he wouldn't last much longer, at which point, he quickly shed them of any clothes to enjoy a morning in bed with his Ace.

--

Logan woke for the second time that morning. Not sure why he had, he looked over and saw Rory was fast asleep. He was about to fall back asleep when he heard a door open and close. Groaning, and stepping out of bed, he found his boxers, pulled them on, and headed out of their room.

He was still in the hall when he heard a voice that he knew to be Finn's let out a shocked, "Yuck!" followed by a disturbed, "Disgusting."

Soon, Logan reached the entrance to the living room and saw Finn frozen, staring at the shirts he and Rory had discarded the night before along with Rory's bra. Smirking, Logan said louder than necessary, "Can I help you Finn?"

Jumping at the unexpected voice, Finn turned around and surveyed Logan for a moment. Once he was done, he took a few steps towards him and pointing back at the clothes, huffed, "What is that?"

"Our shirts," he replied in an obvious tone.

"I know _that_," Finn said, "What are they doing on the floor?"

"They were in the way?" Logan asked, knowing it would make Finn react.

"Why were her clothes being taken off, Logan?" Finn questioned.

"So we could have sex," Logan said bluntly.

"Uhhhhhh," Finn sighed. "Don't say that! I don't want to think of my baby sister having sex."

"You know she's not actually your sister, right?" Logan asked sarcastically, while taking a seat on the couch.

"She might as well be," Finn pointed out, then added, "And I don't need that image in my head."

Logan saw the distraught look on his friend's face, and smirking, reached down to pick up Rory's bra and started toying with it, before saying, "The color looked great on her, and the way it fit…mmm, so hot." He looked up, and noticing Finn's irritation rising, couldn't resist seeing how far he could push him, so commented, "It was amazing, last night and again this morning. Man, she can do this thing with her hips…"

"Stop!" Finn yelled.

Logan laughed and, deciding he had tortured his friend long enough, put the bra back down and asked, "Why'd you come over?"

Just happy to be onto a new topic of conversation, he admitted, "To ask a favor."

Before Logan could respond, he heard Rory walking into the kitchen. A moment later, she came into the room having only pulled on her silk robe, and plopping down on his lap. She was still unaware of their guest, so when the side of her robe settled at her hip, she just leaned her head on Logan's shoulder and whined, "No coffee."

"Do you want me to make some?" Logan asked, confused at the gaping look on Finn's face.

"Already did," Rory replied.

"What are you wearing?" Finn finally exclaimed, still shocked at how high the robe was and wishing he could erase the visual from his mind.

"Huh?"

"You might as well have nothing on," he continued, and gesturing to her legs.

"Finn?" Rory asked confused, obviously just realizing their friend was in the apartment.

Rolling his eyes, Finn got up walked to the kitchen, and returned to notice Rory's robe had been pulled down, so he gave the mug of coffee to Rory without comment.

Once she drank half the cup, he asked, "What is that?"

"My robe?"

"Is that what they want to call it? You're practically naked!"

"So?"

"So? Are you trying to make me go blind?" he ranted in his typical over-dramatic way.

"I didn't know you were here," Rory defended.

"And that makes it okay for you to walk around practically naked?"

"He's seen me completely naked," Rory replied, then added, "On more than one occasion too."

"A lot more than one," Logan offered.

"I know that, but why do you really need to walk around like that? You're going to kill Finny," he pouted, refusing to acknowledge Logan's comment.

Giving him a shy smile, Rory asked innocently, "Easier access?"

Pointing to his friend, he accused, "You've corrupted her!"

"I'd love to take all the credit, but Lorelai would be offended if you didn't give her at least some credit."

"I don't think she would teach her daughter to flaunt sex!"

"Have you met Lorelai?"

"It's not like I'm flaunting it to some random guy, and I'm not really flaunting," Rory defended.

"Why else would you be wearing that?"

"I woke up and Logan wasn't there, and wanted to come find him."

"Why didn't you just stay in your pajamas?"

"I didn't have pajamas on," she replied, "Would you rather I walked out naked?"

"Why was she sleeping naked Logan?" he asked, then turned to Rory and scolded, "You should sleep in proper pajamas young lady!

"I did sleep in pajamas," Rory replied.

"They may not have been proper," Logan added, with a smirk, remembering how she looked in her slip last night.

"Then, why was she naked?" Finn asked, getting irritated once again.

"I told you, we had sex this morning."

"Logan!" Rory screeched, not believing he was so forward about it.

"I'm just having fun, Finn turned this shade of red earlier that I did not know was possible, wanted to see if he'd do it again."

"I hate you," Finn muttered

Wanting to change the conversation, Rory asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I need a favor."

"What?" Rory asked, still leaning into Logan's chest.

"Bri and I were going to go to dinner tonight."

"And you don't know where?" Rory filled in.

"No," Finn answered, "We're going to a small Italian restaurant. Good food, but more casual."

"Sounds good," Logan commented.

"Should be, but her babysitter canceled, and her sister is busy. I was hoping you could watch Maddy for a few hours."

"Okay," Rory said as she finished her coffee and got up to refill it.

"We shouldn't be long, maybe two hours, no longer than three," Finn explained.

"Finn, she said okay," Logan repeated.

"Are you sure. I mean if you have plans…"

Returning, Rory said again, "It's fine, we'd be happy too."

Seeing how worried his friend was, Logan added, "We were all over the city yesterday. We didn't have anything planned for today besides staying in, relaxing, having sex..."

"You're evil," Finn muttered, but gave a questioning look to Rory.

"Its fine Finn, I swear," Rory promised, "Where are we watching her and what time?"

Finally calming down, Finn smiled, "I thought I'd make it easier on you and bring her here, but if you want, you can watch her at my apartment."

"Either works."

"Then let's say here around five."

"Sounds good."

"Thanks, I owe you one."

"I'll remember that," Rory said seriously.

"Anything else?" Logan asked.

"Nope," Finn said, standing to head home, he needed to get some reports sent to his father before tonight. As he reached the door, he turned back and said, "Thanks again, and Love next time don't leave your bra lying around."

This caused Rory to glance over at the offending item and blush profusely, but she still managed to muster out, "Next time wait until someone lets you in!"

"Love," Finn responded, "I banged on your door for over a minute and only came in to see if you were still alive over here."

Thinking out loud, Logan commented, "So that's what woke me up…"

Ignoring his comment, Finn yelled, "Make sure you are presentable. I don't think you want to explain to Maddy why Rory's bra is on the floor or about the birds and the bees," as he walked to his apartment, leaving Rory scampering to pick up their discarded clothes.

--

**_A/N: So, we know this chapter may seem sort of random in terms of what was in it, and while we agree, we think it's important in the overall story. That being said, we do have another part for the work portion of the storyline, which you'll start to see in the next chapter. As for the baby convo, it's really something that an engaged couple would talk about at some point. We hope the explanation they gave for when makes sense and for Rory we tried to balance her career aspirations with how important her family is too her._**

_**Thanks for reading and we love to hear your thoughts so send us a review!**_


	34. Broken Ribbons

_**A/N: Timeframe – last week of October, first week of November.**_

_**This is something we're going to put in some chapters. We've had a lot of people ask about when chapters are taking place, and while we know and have it written down, we realized it's not being accounted for easily in the chapters. As we go back and catch mistakes in old chapters we'll be adding this info to some of them as well.**_

--

Finn and Bri had just left, and Maddy was now sitting on the couch looking at Logan and Rory a bit cautiously. For Rory's part, she was a bit nervous as well. She said yes to babysitting, wanting to help her friends, but she hadn't spent much time with kids. Thankfully, this morning after she agreed to watch Maddy she called Lorelai in a panic asking for ideas of what to do with her. She hung up with her mom feeling slightly more prepared, and remembering her mom's suggestions, she told Logan that she would be back soon and left for the store.

She thought back to some of the other advice her mom gave and crouched down in front of Maddy, hoping it would help make her less intimidating and asked, "Do you want to finger-paint?"

Maddy looked confused so Rory asked, "Do you like to color?"

This made Maddy nod enthusiastically, and Rory to explain, "It's like that except you put the colors on your hands. Do you want to try?"

"Yes please," Maddy said, still a bit shy.

"Okay," Rory said happy she could do something with her, then said, "Did your mommy bring you pajamas?"

Hearing her question, Logan looked through the bag Bri had left and pulled out the items in question. He handed them to Rory who took Maddy to get changed and then got out an undershirt that could fit like a dress to keep the paint off her clothes.

The girls walked back to the kitchen, where Rory laid newspaper over the kitchen table, and then set out heavier paper and opened the finger-paint containers. Maddy seemed a bit unsure so Rory dipped her fingers in and started to make a rainbow.

Maddy giggled and stuck her hand into the purple container and smeared it across her own sheet of paper. This continued for a few minutes before Logan walked in and Maddy asked, "Logan paint?"

"Uh," Logan said, really not wanting to join in this particular activity, "how about I play whatever you do next."

Rory smiled, "Promise?"

"Promise?" Maddy echoed.

"Yeah," Logan assured them, but went back out to the family room.

Once he did, Rory asked, "Want to make a picture for your mom?"

Maddy nodded, and asked, "Aunt Becky too?"

"Sure Aunt Becky too," Rory promised her.

"Finn?"

"And Finn," Rory listed.

"Okay," Maddy said and started to make pictures with Rory's help.

--

Almost an hour later, the girls had cleaned up, and Rory was carrying Maddy's bag with them into the family room to join Logan.

Maddy looked in her bag and said, "Barbie!" then pulled one out of the bag. She looked at Rory and pulled another Barbie out and gave it her.

"Thank you," Rory said, taking the doll.

"Do you have a boy Barbie?" Rory asked Maddy, but focused her eyes on Logan.

Maddy shook her head, causing Logan to smirk at Rory and say, "That's too bad."

"Maddy, I bought a boy Barbie so Logan could play too."

Logan stopped in shock, and Maddy asked, "Present?"

"Yeah," Rory told her and went into the other room, returning a moment later with the promised gift.

Maddy jumped up and down and clapped. "Thank you," she said, hugging Rory when she sat back down.

Rory helped her open the box. Once it was out, Maddy held it next Logan and said "Logan," before she handed it to him. When he took it, she hurried back to her spot next to Rory.

Logan looked at the box and then at the doll, sighing since he knew he promised to participate in this and cursing himself for not asking what the next activity would be, he asked, "So this is Ken?"

Maddy, surprisingly, was the one who answered, "No, Logan."

"I'm Logan,"

"Logan Doll," she said, pointing at the Ken doll he was holding. She held out the one in her hand, clad in a frilly wedding dress and ridiculously disproportioned ring, and announced, "Her name is Nessa."

"What's her name?" Rory asked, pointing to her doll.

"Becky."

"Okay," Rory acknowledged, "That's a pretty dress."

"I know," she said, "Logan and Nessa get married."

"Okay, what should Becky do?"

"She's the mommy."

"Who's mommy?" Rory asked.

"Nessa's," Maddy explained.

"Okay, so what do we do?"

"Becky goes there," she said and made her sit in the edge of a book on their coffee table. "Logan stands here," she explained, taking the hand Logan was holding the doll in and moving it to the edge of the table.

Hearing her call the doll Logan again, Rory couldn't hold in her laughter and whispered, "Now that she's said it, I can see the resemblance," as Maddy started talking to herself, mumbling, about what was going on and moving her doll.

"Is that so?" Logan asked, curious what she would say.

Rory pointed to the box, "Perfect messy blond hair, fancy car, dated all types of Barbies…"

"Hey!" Logan yelled in a whisper, protesting the last comparison.

"What? I'm sure you've dated cheerleader Barbie," Rory started and when Logan remained silent continued, "Shopping Barbie."

"They were all Shopping Barbies," Logan dismissed, not thinking and setting his 'Logan Doll' on the couch next to him.

He was quickly aware of his mistake when Maddy yelled, "No Logan goes there!" pointing to the spot he was in before. She ran around the couch to pick it up and put it back in place. When she had him there, Logan reached forward to hold the doll again.

"I don't know if that's helping your defense," Rory mocked once Maddy corrected Logan, then went on with her list, "Hula Barbie."

"Hartford isn't known for its Hula girls."

"Have you ever been to Hawaii?" Rory asked.

"Yes…"

"Were you celibate in Hawaii?" Rory asked, choosing her words carefully because of Maddy's presence.

"Fine," Logan conceded and asked, "So which Barbie are you?"

"I'm not," Rory said seriously.

"So there goes your theory."

"All done," Maddy announced.

"Really?" Logan asked.

"Married, now go home," Maddy explained and started rearranging things.

"Not so," Rory said, answering Logan's last question, "You decided you needed someone who wasn't plastic."

"I did," Logan grinned, then went back to her analogy, "I think the real issue is that we are both incredibly good looking."

"How did I forget egotistic?" Rory teased.

"Egg-stick?" Maddy asked, now standing back in front of Rory.

"Are they home now?" Rory asked, not wanting to get into a vocabulary lesson, and seeing that Maddy was done moving them around.

Maddy nodded and looked at them with curiosity, "Now what?"

"Yeah Logan," Rory said turning to him innocently, "Now what?"

"Well you already made them kiss, right?" Logan asked and, when Maddy nodded, said, "Now, they go to bed."

"Okay, bedtime!" Maddy yelled and ran around the room getting a pillow from the couch and her blanket. When she got back, she put the pillow down and laid the dolls on top of it then covered them with the blanket.

Once they were down, Maddy started her commentary again, "Night Nessa, Night Logan," she made Becky say, then moved to Nessa and made her say, "Night Mommy, Night Logan." Last she picked up Logan, "Night Nessa, Night Becky," then made him kiss Nessa again before putting him back in the bed.

"Are you sure Becky sleeps with them?" Logan asked, his mind thinking about all the unintentional implications Maddy's actions had and shuttered.

"She's the mommy," Maddy said as if it were obvious.

Logan leaned over to Rory and whispered in her ear, "On our wedding night, mommies better not come into our bed, voyeurism isn't my thing."

--

When they finished cleaning up, Maddy asked to watch a movie. Rory wasn't sure if Bri had packed any so she started to take out some of the children's movies they had in their DVD collection, but Maddy immediately saw that she had the movie _Cars_ and picked that one. They quickly settled on the couch to watch the movie.

It was about a quarter to eight when Logan opened the door to see Finn and Bri standing on the other side and gestured for them to come in.

While this was happening, Bri asked, "How was she? No problems I hope?"

"She named the Ken doll I bought Logan," Rory accounted with a smirk, enjoying the playful scowl he gave her.

Finn just nodded seriously and said, "I can see that," which caused everyone except Logan to laugh.

Once she was calm, Rory decided to answer Bri's original question, "We finger-painted, played Barbies, and she started a movie not to long ago."

"And you're sure she didn't give you any problems?"

"She was fine Bri, I promise."

Bri went in to get Maddy, who didn't want to leave the movie, so Rory said they could take it over to Finn's, and she'd get it back later.

The three headed back across the hall to Finn's apartment. When they got there, Maddy was hyper and ran to the TV.

"Mommy!" she yelled, from her spot.

"What Baby?" Bri asked, following her into the room

"Car! Car!" she cheered, pointing to the TV.

Bri sighed and handed the movie that Maddy had just started watching to Finn to put in the DVD player. Once the movie was playing, it took Bri a few minutes to get Maddy to stop jumping around the room and sit down to watch, but when she did, the couple went into the kitchen.

"Sorry," Bri offered.

"For what?"

"Maddy, she just took over your living room."

Finn laughed, "She's fine," then asked, "Want something to drink?"

"Water?"

"Of course," Finn answered. After getting a glass and filling it, Finn walked with Bri back to where Maddy was. They sat down on the couch to watch the movie with her.

Bri noticed Finn mouthing along to a few lines in the movie and whispered, "You've seen this before?"

"Rory made me see it at the theater with her when Logan was in London. I liked it."

"Of course you did," Bri said holding in a laugh and leaned into Finn's side.

Almost an hour into the movie, Maddy walked over to them clutching her blanket and climbed onto Bri's lap. She laid her head on Bri's shoulder, but was still facing the TV so she could watch her movie. Bri wrapped her arms around her daughter, knowing it was a habit of Maddy's to cuddle when she was tired, and it wouldn't be long before she fell asleep.

Adjusting Maddy so that she was in a more comfortable position on her lap, Bri waited and soon saw Maddy's death grip on her blanket relax and her breathing even out, signaling that she was asleep.

Noticing the way Bri was looking at Maddy, Finn asked, "Is she asleep?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to take you home or would you like to stay longer?"

Thinking, Bri knew her answer, but wasn't sure what to do with Maddy, "I want to stay, but…"

Before she could finish, Finn offered, "I can put her in one of the spare rooms, she can sleep there until you're ready to go."

"Thanks," Bri replied as Finn stood. Finn nodded, then reached down and lifted Maddy off of Bri. He carried her down the hall with Bri following and led them to one of the spare rooms. Bri saw that his hands were full so she walked to the bed, pulled back the covers, and adjusted the pillows so Finn could lay Maddy down. As he did, he whispered, "Goodnight Baby Doll."

Maddy stirred in her sleep as he was untangling his arms from her and said, "Night...I love you Finn."

Finn knew that she was half asleep and may not have even realized what she said, but after the moment of surprise wore off, he couldn't help but whisper back, "I love you too," and kiss her forehead. He moved away from the bed, and said, "I'll be on the couch when you're done."

--

Bri was standing a few feet behind Finn as he set Maddy down, but she heard the exchange clearly. She had planned to just go tuck Maddy in and spend more time with Finn, but now, she needed time to think. When she first heard the words _I love you_ come out of Maddy's mouth, she figured Maddy was sleepy and thought Bri was putting her down. But, she distinctly heard Finn at the end. Maddy's statement was surprising enough on its own: She hadn't even begun to think about the fact that Finn said it back. She knew she needed a few minutes to process this and wasn't sure how to get them when she heard Finn say that he would be on the couch when she was done putting Maddy to sleep.

Once she saw him shut the door, Bri walked to the bed and sat down on the edge, and heard her daughter voice say, "I love you Mommy."

"I love you too Sweetie," Bri said and kissed her, then leaned back to rest against the headboard. Looking at her daughter, she searched for an easy explanation of what just happened.

'My daughter told Finn she loved him…My daughter told my boyfriend that she loved him before I did…Well, Maddy is only three, she doesn't realize the importance of those words…

'But, she isn't like some kids who tell everyone they meet that they love them…' she thought, knowing full well that the only people Maddy said that to were her, her parents, and her sisters.

'There was the chance that she only said it to Finn because she was so tired, and he had been the one holding her…but, it could also mean that she liked Finn an much as the other people in her life…

'That would be saying something, Maddy adores her grandparents…' she reasoned.

After thinking about it, Bri realized Maddy probably said it for both reasons and turned her focus to the fact that Finn said it back.

'I wonder how Maddy would react if it doesn't work out with Finn, I know she likes him...well, apparently, she loves him.

'I'd still be friends with Rory, so I guess I would see him…Maddy would too.'

She was trying to figure out how it would affect Maddy, when she realized, 'I would miss him too…

'When he met Maddy, his response was something I had only hoped for. He handled the night I tried to seduce him just as well. I yelled at him for not having sex with me, because I was insecure, but he stayed, and we talked about it. Even then, I knew I was having a freak out, but I couldn't help it…regardless, he dealt so well with me being all _emotional and incoherent girl_ on him, that's not something many guys can do. He just held me while I cried and patiently waited for me to tell my story, didn't push or hurry it, just let me talk at my own pace.

'After our little sex talk, he said it was fine to wait, but I still thought he would change his mind…but he never did. Since then, he's always made sure I was comfortable with everything we did. Like on the boat…he was so worried about what I wanted, he didn't care about what he wanted. Even when I decided to sleep with him, he wore pajamas just to make sure I was comfortable…It really was sweet…

'I like that about him, that he's a sweet guy. The first time we met, he came off as a giant kid, always fun, joking, and that was okay. I knew he would be a fun friend to have around, but it was one reason why I was hesitant to go on a date with him.

'But I said yes anyways. That was when I found out everything Rory told me about him was true. She told me that he was loyal and serious when needed, but I would never have believed it or understood how much so until I saw it for myself. I think his balance between being fun and serious is what makes us work well together…

'I would be really sad if we didn't work out. I don't want to find out what it's like not to have him around, not to be able to call and talk to him, not to have him know how much I…'

"Oh!" she exclaimed out loud.

--

It was almost ten minutes later when Bri walked out of the room. She went towards the living room, but didn't see Finn. Looking around, she heard a noise coming from the kitchen area and walked that way, only to find Finn looking through his wine cabinet. She didn't say anything, just watched, as he looked over the labels before deciding on one and turning back to the bar to open it.

Finn jumped when he saw Bri, he hadn't heard her enter. Wanting to finish his task, he found his wine opener and asked, "Is Maddy asleep again?"

Bri nodded, and he went back to his task. Once he had removed the cork from the bottle and was taking it off the corkscrew, Bri said, "Finn…"

"Yes, Doll?" he asked. He knew that her voice was tentative and wanted to encourage her to say whatever was on her mind, so he used a soothing voice and stopped taking the cork off to look at her.

"I love you," she quietly said, managing to maintain eye contact even though she was slightly scared.

Finn dropped the wine opener when he heard what she said, and was around the bar as quickly as he could manage, taking her face in both of his hands and kissing her hard. Pulling back, he gave her a huge smile and said, "I love you too."

Bri calmed down considerably when he said it back, even though she knew he would, and reached up to kiss him again. This time, Finn moved to deepen the kiss, letting his tongue taste her mouth. He walked a few steps, until Bri's back came into contact with the wall. His hands gripped her hips, keeping her pressed into him, and enjoyed the feel of her. The kiss continued, Bri running her hands through his hair and over his neck. In the mean time, Finn's hands moved so that one was running up and down her side while the other found her hair.

The hand he had on her side started drifting towards her chest, causing Bri to pull back, "Finn."

"Hmm?" he mumbled as his lips moved off hers and trailed towards her ear, but his arms were now at rest around her back.

"Finn, can we…" Bri started, not sure what else to say. She knew that this wasn't any further than they usually went, but she couldn't help but wonder if saying they loved each other changed the rules.

Finn pulled back and asked, "Doll?"

"I still don't think I can…"

Smiling at her, and happy he could say this freely, he said, "Bri, I love you, I don't expect anything, and I'm not going to pressure you to go any further."

"I know," Bri admitted, she really did trust him.

Finn teased, "But my girlfriend just told me that she loves me too, and I was excited. I wanted to show her how much I love her."

"I really do love you, Finn," she assured him. "I've been thinking of things you've done, trying to convince myself that they meant you did," he confessed knowing he had been dying to hear her say those words back to him. "I'm sorry I didn't realize sooner," she said sincerely then, wanting to hear what things he came up with, asked, "What did you think of? He took a moment to consider his answer and then looked at her to reveal, "You trust me with Maddy." "Really?" Bri said confused. She knew she did, she wasn't questioning that, but she also trusted a babysitter, so didn't know why that would be significant.

"You've left her with me for entire days without any instructions except for making her promise to behave and me promise to stay out of trouble. I've seen you give instructions to babysitters, they get at least a five minute speech about rules and emergency contacts and so on. You don't give me instructions, just tell me when you'll be back."

"True, but that's trust not love," Bri countered.

"But it was trusting me with her. I know you trust Rory and Logan, but even they got a two minute speech, not quite babysitter level true, but still, more than I got. You trust me the way you do your sister: It's the kind of trust you can only have in someone you love."

"I guess that makes sense," Bri offered, but before she could think about it too much changed subjects and asked, "So things are good, really good, right?"

"With us?" Finn asked, but not waiting for a response said, "I would say so."

Not wanting to lose her nerve, she decided to bring up something else she had been thinking about, "I want you to meet my family."

"Okay," Finn replied. He had never done the formal meet the parents thing, but he was well aware that it was a big step for their relationship, and took it as a good sign that Bri wanted it to happen.

"It's just, things are going well, and Maddy has already mentioned you when she was talking to my parents. They asked me who you were," she explained.

"So they know we're dating?" Finn asked, not sure what she was trying to say.

"No, I didn't want to jinx it," she admitted, a bit embarrassed by the reason.

"It's fine," he assured her.

"I said you're a friend," she offered, then explained, "They know I'm friends with someone from work so I told them you're a friend of hers, and since we met, we've become friends as well."

"Which is how it started."

"I know," she teased, then turning serious again asked, "What are your plans for Thanksgiving?"

"I'm Australian," he pointed out.

"So no plans?" she asked.

"I usually just end up tagging along with Colin or Logan if I do anything, which in recent years has meant going to Star Hallow. But I can change that…" he offered, pretty sure she wanted him to come with her, but not wanting to assume.

"Do you want to come with us to Albany?"

"Would your parents be okay with that?" he asked, not wanting to intrude.

"I don't see why not, but I haven't actually asked them yet. This is just such a good thing, and I want you to meet them. I won't see them before Thanksgiving, so I thought you could come, but if you don't want to..." she started to ramble, not sure if he would even want to spend a holiday with her family.

"I'd love to come with you, but talk to them first. If they're okay with it, I'll be there," he promised.

"Okay," she said with a smile and gave him a brief kiss.

They began walking back to the couch, but when they reached the hallway, Bri redirected them.

Finn realized they weren't going to check on Maddy. Instead, Bri was heading towards his room, so he stopped her, "Doll, why are we…"

Cutting him off, Bri said, "I'm not ready to have sex, but I do want to continue what we were doing without having to worry about a certain little girl walking in on us."

Skeptical about her explanation, but not wanting to argue, Finn nodded and opened his door without a word and let her enter.

Bri walked in and sat down on his bed, pulling him down next to her. She leaned over and kissed him. They continued to kiss, and Bri reached down to pull Finn's shirt off, but it kept getting stuck. Finn, thinking she was nervous, grabbed her hands to stop her, "We don't have to do this."

Bri let out an exasperated sigh, and reached over to take off his shirt. Now that they weren't kissing, it was easier, and it came off without problem. Finn still wasn't sure why she was doing this, and sat stunned at the sudden turn of events. Bri was getting frustrated because Finn wasn't getting the hint.

Wanting to reassure him, she finally said, "Finn, I want to do this."

Finn was getting incredibly turned on, but wasn't sure what she was getting at. Gripping her hips, he asked, "And what would this be?"

"I liked what we did on the boat."

He smiled, "I did too."

She smiled back, and continued, "But, I love you."

"I like hearing that," he teased, hoping to keep the conversation light enough for her to keep talking.

"And I trust you…" she added, then not sure how to say what else she was thinking, blurted out, "I want more…"

"Bri you just said you weren't ready for sex," he pointed out, clearly remembering the conversation they just had.

"I know, and I'm not, but there are things in between…"

"So," Finn said, not sure what else to say.

"I don't know what I want to do or how far I'll be comfortable going…" she started saying before drifting off not sure how to explain what was thinking. Deciding that showing him would be easier, she reached out, took his hand, and placed in on her breast. She looked up at him and timidly said, "I just don't want to be stuck at the kissing phase."

Having her put his hand there made Finn's jaw drop. He sat frozen at the sudden turn in what she wanted, but eventually got past that. When he did, he let his hand relax and move slightly, letting himself feel how full her breasts were.

Now clear on about what she had in mind, he barely had time to say, "Just tell me if you want to stop," before he was leaning in towards her.

He waited long enough to see her nod, and then let his lips claim hers in a kiss. Not wanting to rush, he took his time to get them back to where they were. He let his hands explore her body, eventually drifting back to her chest while the kissing gradually became more intense.

When he heard her let out a moan, he knew she was enjoying what they were doing, and moved a hand to her bare stomach, and slowly let it work its way back up to her chest, this time under her shirt. When his fingers came into contact with her bra, he slowed down, wanting to make sure she was still okay with everything. When he felt her press her body into his hand, he used his other hand to slowly lift her shirt up her body.

Instead of protesting, she leaned back and moved her arms to make it easier for him, but once it was over her head, he looked down at her and saw she had brought her arms to cover her stomach.

Finn asked, "You still okay?"

"Yeah," she said, a little self conscious about her body.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered to her wanting to reassure her and kissed her again. Eventually, he let his lips dip down to her collarbone, neck, the tops of her breasts…anything not covered by her bra. As they made their way up her neck and neared her ear, he said, "Absolutely gorgeous Doll."

Bri wasn't a superficial person normally, but what he was saying was really helping her confidence, and soon, she was caught up in the feel of Finn being so close to her. She was lost in the sensations he was creating, and soon felt them both lie down on his bed.

Things were going good, but Finn almost jumped when he felt her hands on the buttons of his pants. This time she got them undone without any issue. Finn was still enjoying the taste of her skin, when he felt her fingers running along the elastic band of his boxers.

Finn subtly moved causing her hand to go off any course it was just on and he let his hands go to her pants. Toying with the top button and wanting to keep her calm, he whispered, "I love you so much."

She nodded in response to acknowledge both what he said and what his hands were doing. Finn slowly undid the buttons and unzipped the zipper. He then let his hands go an inch inside the top band and give a light tug. Bri lifted her hips in response, but was concentrating on his mouth and tongue and the incredible sensations they were creating.

Her pants dropped to the floor, and Finn ran his fingers up her thighs on his way back up. His hands continued all the way up, past her hips, ending on her bra, and softy running his fingers over her flesh. He was so lost in his focus on what he was doing to her that he wasn't paying attention to what her hands were doing, so he was surprised when he felt the elastic on his boxers stretch and her fingers brush the skin just under the top. He let out a sigh, enjoying the feeling, when he felt her hand continue to move, and she ran a single finger around his head and then down his shaft and back up again.

He would have given almost anything to have her continue what she was doing, but he could tell she was growing more uncomfortable and unsure of what she was doing. Gently reaching down, he pulled her hand up, and interlaced their fingers.

Bri didn't try to resist, and as much as she wanted to continue, she was thankful when he got her to stop. She wasn't sure how much more she could have done before she lost her nerve. She was going to apologize, when she felt Finn's lips find hers and kiss her. The kiss was slow and deep, and as he pulled back to take a breath, she felt Finn shift next to her, and prop his body up, so he was slightly over her before he leaned back down. They continued to kiss, Finn having one hand toying with her hair and the other brushing lazy patterns across her chest and eventually moving to her stomach.

When he felt that her body was relaxed again, he let his hand run across the top of her panties. Seeing she was still calm, he let his fingers run over the fabric and then let them wander down, teasing her opening through it. He couldn't help but smile when he heard her moan in frustration and lift her hips, obviously trying to increase their contact.

He continued his ministrations, moving his hand back up the fabric to where he knew her nub was hiding, circling it, and then back down. He was trying to decide what to, when he heard her let out a whimpering, "Finn…"

Knowing what she wanted, and what he damn well wanted to give her, he let his fingers trace the elastic edge, which only caused her to lift her hips again. Slowly pushing the fabric aside, he let one finger run along the edge of her opening. Gathering what he was sure was the last of his senses, he asked, "Is this okay."

By this point, Bri was breathing heavily, but managed to get out, "Please don't stop."

Finn moved his lips to a spot on her neck, he knew she loved and started to tease her opening with his fingers. When he was sure she was ready, he began to push a finger slowly inside. When it was finally in, he began to move it, causing Bri to let out a half sigh, half moan.

He began slowly, trying to find her spot, and was rewarded quickly when he heard her moan, "Oh, god."

He kept it moving and, as she got more and more worked up, added a second finger. He started kissing her again as he had set a pace that he was sure she was finding pleasurable. He kept doing this, occasionally letting his lips move to her neck until he heard her breathing quicken. When he did he increased his tempo and moved his thumb to toy with her nub. Finally, he felt her body tighten around his fingers, while she let out a series of gasping 'oh's' followed by a satisfied, "Finn…"

Finn kept up his fingers moving through her orgasm, but as it subsided, he slowed down before removing his fingers entirely, and pulled her panties back into place. Seeing that she looked a little embarrassed about what just happened, he pulled her body close to his so that he could kiss her temple and whisper, "That was so sexy."

Unfortunately for Finn, that had the opposite effect to the one he desired, because Bri turned into his chest and tried to hide her face.

"Was that okay?" Finn asking, hoping she wouldn't be mad for how far it went.

"That was amazing," Bri said while blushing, thinking he was asking if she enjoyed it.

Finn had to let out a small laugh, "I didn't mean that, I knew that was good. I meant was doing that okay, you don't wish we had stopped?"

Bri shook her head and gave him a quick kiss. Finn wrapped his arms around her and leaned down for another kiss. They were lying next to each other, but as Finn tightened his arms around Bri, they were pressed together, and she could feel the effect she had on him. Bri gathered her courage and decided to resume what she started a while ago and moved her hand back down to his boxers. Before she could get any further, Finn pulled back and said, "No."

"No?" she asked surprised, but her hands had halted.

"You don't need to do anything for me."

"You don't want me to?"

Finn laughed, "I would love every second of it, but I know you wouldn't be comfortable doing it yet, so it can wait. Don't do anything just to do it."

"I feel bad…You just…And I didn't…"

"Doll, I'm fine," he said wanting to reassure her.

Bri didn't want to argue. She felt bad knowing the state he was in, but she wasn't sure if she would be okay doing that just yet. It had been much easier to keep her nerves settled when she was just lying there, but having to be the one doing it…that was different. Taking his word and not wanting to move just yet, she rested her head on his chest and smiling said, "That was amazing."

"Thank you," he replied seriously, not sure what else to say, but glad she was still there with him.

--

It wasn't much later when Finn and Bri gathered their clothes and returned to the living room for a glass of wine. They mostly talked, enjoying being close to each other, before Finn saw the time and insisted on taking them home. Bri picked up Maddy's things while Finn went to get her, and then, they made their way down to Finn's car.

Finn drove them back to their apartment, and when they arrived, he carried Maddy up to her room. This time, however, as he set her down, he said, "I love you Baby Doll, goodnight," without hesitation.

Bri tucked the blanket around Maddy before walking Finn to the door. They kissed one more time, and Finn asked, "I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sure," Bri promised.

"Okay," he said, then stole one more kiss, "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied.

"I like that."

"Me too."

"Goodnight Doll."

"Night," she replied, and gave a small final wave.

--

Monday morning, Rory walked out of their staff meeting and, for the first time, had the urge to kill Mike Jacobson. It was true that last week, she had asked for something a bit more challenging, but this was ridiculous. Instead of giving her the same type of articles he did before this whole mess started, he gave her four major articles.

For the first, she was being paired up with Lou, and they were writing an overview of the issues on the upcoming ballot and highlighting the main points being argued on each side of the issue. For her next assignment, she was working with Jason to write a guide of Haunted Houses around the city. He was the youngest writer on staff besides herself, so she wasn't surprised they had been paired up for this. He was, however, one of the office gossips, and unfortunately for her, not someone she was in a hurry to spend time with.

On top of those, she had two articles to write on her own: an update on the progress of _Freedom Tower_ and a profile of Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, looking at the history of their friendship and the changes in it since they both entered the 2008 presidential race.

Rory sat down at her desk, starring at all the work she had, wondering how it would possibly get done, and confirmed her earlier urge: Mike was going to die.

--

She went through each assignment, doing some quick research on each topic. After finishing that, she paused for a minute to take a break and began to wonder what it would be like when the time came to work with another writer again. When she thought about that, she started worrying how she could schedule time to work with two different people. That was going to make her week that much more difficult.

Her first partner to approach her was Lou, "Hi Rory."

"Hi Lou. Have you had a chance to look into any of this yet?"

"No, I thought we should decide how we were going to break things up first."

Rory agreed and said, "Well, I went to the state and city websites and printed the list of everything that would be on the ballot."

"How many items are there?"

"26," Rory answered.

"Okay, then, I think we should just each take half and have all the information ready by say… Wednesday morning. We can swap halves to read and make sure the writing is neutral, then decide on a format we think will work best based on what we have. We should get everything into that format by Friday morning and look it over one last time."

"Sounds good," Rory affirmed, hoping that being able to work on her own would make this easier. For the next few hours, she started her research and set up interviews.

A few hours after lunch, Rory gave a sigh, knowing she had to talk to Jason. Lou had been fine this morning, but he was one of the people who had never seemed to care much. Jason, on the other hand, was one of the gossip queens…or was it kings…she shook her head knowing it didn't matter. Getting up, she glanced around the room, and spotted him at his desk. Walking over, she took a breath and asked, "Jason?"

"Yeah," he replied, then turned around, "Oh, hello Lorelai."

Resisting the urge to say something back, she just continued with her purpose, "We should talk about out article."

"I guess," he agreed.

"Did you have anything in mind?"

"Well, I did some research and found ten haunted houses," he said and showed her his list.

Rory nodded, "I had a few more on my list, but I think I had all of these as well."

"I think we should talk to the director of each of the houses, go through the houses or at least a portion of them ourselves, and interview people who've visited as well."

"Okay, but I also think that we should develop an easy way to compare them. Maybe a chart with the important pieces of information like price, location, even what age group it's most appropriate for," Rory suggested.

Jason was a little disappointed when he couldn't find anything to criticize: It was a good plan, so he said, "Sounds good."

"I know this isn't explicitly part of the article, but I think it would be good to include two or three that are milder, where you could take younger kids."

Surprised, Jason said, "That's a good idea."

"So how do you want to split up the work?"

"I say we split up the haunted houses and each set up interviews with their directors over the next few days," Jason answered, giving the most logical solution.

"Before we start the actual interviews, we should make a list of questions to ask all the directors and another one to ask visitors, so we have facts to compare. We also need questions specific to each location so we can highlight the unique aspects," Rory commented, knowing they needed the same information from each place for any type of comparison to be effective.

"We'll also need a photographer to come with us," Jason commented.

"Then, we should set up our interviews today so we can submit the requests before we leave."

Jason nodded so Rory left his desk with her part of the work. She stayed late to finish setting up all the necessary interviews and get all the background information researched and written up. She also compiled a list of questions to talk over with Jason the next morning. She only left the office when Logan called around 7 worrying about where she was and telling her that he had to head out of town for a day or two.

The next day, she got to work early and stayed extremely late. She only left when Logan called her cell phone just before 9 and threatened to fire her if she didn't go home. She did, but she kept working until she fell asleep on the couch.

--

By Wednesday, Rory noticed that the whispering about her had slowed down. She was sure it was still being talked about by a few people, but when she was around her co-workers who weren't part of the gossip circle, they were back to being friendly, like it had been before her identity was revealed.

She spent a few hours early that morning visiting the Haunted Houses and returned to the office to read over Lou's portion of the election article he'd sent her that morning before she took a quick break for lunch. In the afternoon, she had to head out again for an interview about the _Freedom Tower_, but needed to get back to the office by 4:00 for the meeting with Lou about their article.

It was nearing noon when Steph's voice defended, "I'm just going to find my friend."

"We can't just let people wander around," Alison said firmly.

"Don't make me call Logan," Steph snapped back, not really in the mood to deal with this.

Alison quickly put everything together and asked, "So you're here to see Rory."

"No Bri," Steph said with an annoyed sigh.

"I need to confirm that with her, before I can let you go any further."

"Fine," Steph conceded, knowing it was the only way she was getting anywhere.

A minute later, Alison said, "Bri's at her desk, you can find her there."

Steph started to walk wondering where Bri's desk was, but before she could get very far, she ran into Rory.

"Steph?" Rory asked, confused and surprised by her appearance.

"Hey Ror!" she said in a false cheeriness.

"What's up?" Rory asked, wondering why her friend was here.

"Just needed to talk to Bri real quick," Steph explained.

"Oh," Rory said, a little disappointed that Steph wasn't there to talk to her.

Steph didn't say anything and walked off, leaving Rory to return to her work. She was completely reabsorbed when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Startled, she turned in her chair to see Bri and Steph standing there.

"Finish up, we're going to lunch," Steph commanded.

"I can't," Rory explained, "I am buried in work."

"See, I got a call from your fiancé, I'm sure you remember Logan…blond hair, brown eyes, average height, annoyingly charming with a history of being arrested…"

"Very funny," Rory said dryly.

"Right, well, he called me worried that you were working too hard. Now, I thought this was him being his overprotective self, but then, I got a call from Bri telling me the same thing."

"Bri?" Rory asked confused, and looking at her friend.

"I was worried," Bri defended.

"And at first, I thought she just wasn't used to seeing you in work mode, but then I asked more questions and realized you were here for twelve hours yesterday."

"It wasn't twelve!" Rory defended.

"Eleven?" Steph challenged.

"Maybe," Rory said defeated, knowing it was somewhere in between the two.

"Right, so now we're going to lunch," Steph said with a smile, "Besides, I haven't talked to you in days, we _need_ to catch up."

"Really?" Rory asked, getting curious.

"Yes."

"Please Rory, I think it'd be good for you," Bri tried, knowing that she desperately needed a break.

"Fine," Rory gave in, "but give me a few minutes to finish up."

"We can do that," Bri promised, then added, "we'll be at my desk when you're ready, and don't be too long, or we'll come back!"

--

They were seated in the restaurant, when Rory asked, "So Steph, what do you want to talk about?"

"Maybe I just said that to get you out of the office."

"And I'm sure you did, but I can tell there is something you want to talk about."

"I talked to Colin." Seeing Rory's and Bri's confused faces, she added, "I found a job I wanted to apply for."

"Really?" Rory asked, surprised at how fast she found something.

"Yeah," she confirmed, but her voice wasn't nearly as excited as Rory would have expected it to be.

"Well, what is it?" Bri asked, curious about what the job was and hoping she'd get more insight on what was going on.

"It's at Planned Parenthood. The main part of the job would be conducting sexual education for schools or groups who request it, but it also would include coordinating some of the programs and updating and writing curriculum to meet the needs for various groups and ages."

"Well, you do know plenty about sex," Rory joked.

Instead of being embarrassed, Steph smiled and said, "I'm an expert."

"Did you tell Colin?"

"I did."

"And what did he say?"

"Not much."

"Not a thing?" Bri asked. She may not know Colin as well as the others, but it still seemed like a bad reaction.

Steph thought back to the other night when the conversation had taken place.

--

"_Hey, can I talk to you?" Steph asked Colin who was reading on the couch._

"_Sure," he replied, setting down his book._

"_You remember when I said I was going to look for another job?"_

"_Did you find something?"_

"_Yeah, but before I applied, I wanted to talk to you about it," she started, knowing there was a lot they needed to talk about._

_Seeing her nervous face, Colin knew she was leaving something out, and it probably wasn't something good, "Is the job somewhere else?"_

"_No," Steph said quickly to assure him, "the job is still in the city."_

"_Okay, then what?"_

"_It's not an engineering job," she explained. When Colin remained silent, she continued, "It's with Planned Parenthood. I'd mostly be speaking to teens about sex ed."_

"_But you love engineering!" Colin exclaimed, surprised to hear that she wanted to leave the field._

"_I did. I loved everything I learned at school and even my job until recently, but Colin, it's not me. I like talking to people and interacting with them," she said, trying to explain._

"_And another engineering job wouldn't give you that?" he asked rhetorically, before suggesting, "Maybe one that isn't in a lab."_

"_Not like this," she said. "I loved my psychology classes in college too, just as much as the engineering ones." _

_Colin sighed, "When you said you wanted to look for a different job, I thought you meant a different engineering job."_

"_I didn't know what kinds of jobs were available, or what I was qualified to do. I wanted to look into it first so I would actually have something to tell you. But when I saw this, I started thinking about how much fun I had working with teens for one of my class project, and how it'd be perfect for me."_

"_It's such a big change," Colin commented absent mindedly._

"_Yeah…" Steph admitted._

"_There's something else," Colin stated._

"_It's just…my salary wouldn't stay the same."_

"_Oh," Colin replied, not sure what else to say._

"_I know we try not to use much from our trust funds for our normal bills…" Steph started._

"_We do."_

"_So you don't think I should apply?"_

"_I didn't say that. I mean, if this is what you want to do, that's all that matters right?" he asked, trying to be supportive, but it came out as bitter._

"_Okay," Steph said disappointed, escaping to their bedroom before she started to cry in front of Colin._

--

"That's all he said?" Rory asked when Steph had finished her story.

"Yeah, but I get the money thing. I've thought about it and decided to just to stay at where I'm at."

"But you don't like that job, isn't this what you want to do?" Bri reminded her.

"Yeah, but I can look again in a few years, after he graduates."

"Steph, if this is what you want to do, you shouldn't wait," Rory argued.

Steph just shrugged, took a bite of her food and, wanting to change the subject, asked, "So where is Logan?"

"Dayton, Ohio, the workers there were threatening a strike if the union and management couldn't agree on a new contract," Rory explained.

"How is that going?" Bri asked curious.

"When I talked to him last night, it sounded like they were close to an agreement," Rory answered.

"When is he coming back?" Steph asked.

"Hopefully tonight, but he's going to call me later to let me know for sure."

"Do anything fun this past weekend?"

"Friday, we went shopping."

"Why didn't you call me!" Steph demanded.

"He asked the same thing," Rory teased.

"So?" she asked impatiently, a little annoyed that she missed a shopping excursion.

"We had some things to find for the wedding, and I thought it would be good to get Logan's input."

"And, I'm sure he loved every minute of it," Steph teased.

"He did, especially when we went shopping for the baby shower."

"Alex's and Lily's?" she asked, getting excited.

"Yeah, but we got something for Seth and Laura while we were out."

"I can't believe you got Logan to go. I couldn't get Colin to, and it's my brother."

"I didn't tell him until we were already out."

"Very covert of you."

"I like to think so," she teased, "but that's not the funniest part."

"What?" Steph asked, hanging on her every word.

"Mike saw us there. You should have seen his face when he thought I was pregnant."

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" Bri demanded.

"It was just weird."

"What'd Logan say?" Steph asked, sure he would have tried to scare the man, even if just for kicks.

"After Mike congratulated him?" Rory asked, knowing Bri would find that part funny.

"If that's what he did, yes," Bri said laughing.

"He turned on him, asking him why he was there, and intimidated him just enough to make him leave."

"He is good at that," Steph commented it.

Continuing, Rory said, "Then Saturday morning, we got a surprise visit from Finn."

"What did he want?" Steph asked.

"Asked us to babysit Maddy," Rory answered.

"Really?" Steph asked surprised.

"Finn wanted to take me to dinner, and my babysitter canceled that morning, so Finn asked Rory and Logan," Bri explained.

Before she could say anything else, Steph offered, "If you ever need a babysitter, call me, I'd be more than happy to watch her."

"I'll keep that in mind," Bri said truthfully. She never wanted to just assume they'd watch Maddy, but now that they offered, it was different.

"Me too," Rory agreed, wanting her to know she'd be happy to help as well, but then added, "But that wasn't what I meant."

"That's all he told me," Bri said.

"He lectured me on what appropriate nightwear was and acted appalled that we have sex."

"He does like to think of you as innocent," Steph commented.

"He found my bra on the floor by the couch!"

"That would shatter that image," Steph teased.

"He tried to act surprised that Logan's seen me naked," Rory added.

"So he's protective, I think it's kind of cute," Bri commented.

"Sometimes, but this was ridiculous," Rory said with an eye roll.

"Trust me, Finn's protectiveness gets old after a while," Steph assured her, then after a few moments of silence asked, "So how was your date with Finn?"

"Good," Bri answered.

"Where'd he take you?" Steph asked excitedly, she and Colin didn't go on dates as often as they used to.

"To dinner, the food was amazing," Bri answered, "then, we picked up Maddy and went to his apartment to talk and relax."

"Did you guys finish watching _Cars_?" Rory asked, remembering the movie incident.

"We did," Bri answered, but looked away blushing as she thought about what happened after that.

"Spill!" Steph demanded, having caught Bri's reaction.

"Spill what?" Bri asked, hoping to avoid the topic.

"Whatever it is you just thought about."

"Who says it's interesting?" Bri asked.

"Come on, just tell us…Please?" Rory hounded, now curious about what had happened. Bri had been much more open talking about her relationship with Finn recently, and to see her clam up made Rory think something had happened.

"Well after we picked up Maddy and went to his apartment..." Bri began and, from there, told them what happened.

When she got to part where Maddy told Finn that she loved him, and he said it back, the two girls listening both let out an, "Awwww."

"So she's in love with her mommy's boyfriend?" Steph asked.

"Yeah, you better watch out, you may have some competition," Rory teased.

"Well, she's a redhead, and you did warm me that he likes them," Bri said, joining in the joke, but continued with the story and ending just after she said 'I love you,' to Finn, causing the girls listening let out a squeal.

"I bet he was so excited!" Steph gushed. Even though Finn never mentioned it, she could tell he had been anxious to know if Bri felt the same way.

"I just can't believe I didn't know earlier," Bri explained. Once she came to the realization that she loved him, it seemed so obvious; she didn't know how she ever missed it.

"You didn't have the best experience with Kyle," Rory sympathized.

"Yeah, it's understandable, you were hesitant," Steph added, "And I know you were trying to watch out for Maddy."

"But he's been nothing but wonderful to both of us, how could I ever think he'd be anything like Kyle."

Seeing that she was still feeling guilty, Rory offered, "You we're just trying to protect Maddy and yourself from going through anything like that again. You had a really bad experience with him; it makes sense for you to be extra cautious."

"But to think I needed to protect us from Finn? That's crazy, he couldn't harm a fly!"

Steph laughed, "But you didn't know him that well, better safe than sorry."

"Steph's right, I mean you didn't think Kyle would do what he did either, it's better to be safe," Rory added, knowing Bri was being hard on herself.

"Logically, I know you're right, I just feel bad about it now."

"I'm sure he was ecstatic when you said it back," Rory offered, trying to make her feel better.

"He was," Bri answered, thinking back to the rest of their night.

"So what happened after that?" Steph asked

"What do you mean?" Bri asked.

"Did he try to jump you?" Steph asked seriously.

"Steph!" Rory yelled.

"What? We're talking about Finn here. Bri tells him she loves him, he's going to do something," Steph reasoned.

"He did," Bri admitted.

"I knew it!" Steph cheered, "How was it?"

"We didn't have sex."

"I didn't say you did, but other things can feel good," Steph said, giving her a knowing look.

Instead of replying, Bri took a bite of her food to try to hide her embarrassment. Thankfully, Rory saved her and began complaining about her work load for the week.

--

When they finished up lunch, Rory headed out to her interview and made it back to the office only a few minutes late for her meeting with Lou. She stayed late again, before heading home to keep working. Thursday, she arrived at work early since Logan was coming home that night, and she knew that she couldn't get away with working as late. That morning, she finished up her article on the _Freedom Tower_ and edited her portion of the article with Lou into the format they had decided on.

She spent her afternoon visiting the remaining Haunted Houses before heading home. There, she worked her Clinton/Giuliani piece until Logan arrived. They left for _The Phantom of the Opera_, which Rory loved, and once they returned home, they spent time together in bed talking, but when Logan said he needed to get some sleep, Rory tried to sneak out of bed to work more, but he refused to let her.

Friday morning, she went in early yet again to work on her political article before meeting up with Jason to create the Haunted House comparison chart and read over the sections the other had written, hoping to make the tone more unified. They spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon finishing the article. Once it was finished, she went back to work and was working on polishing the Clinton/Giuliani article until Mike came by saying she needed to have everything in because he wanted to go home, and Rory had to admit she wanted to collapse after her long week.

--

Friday after work, Logan got home to find Rory asleep on the couch. Feeling bad, but knowing it was necessary, he woke her up so she could pack and get in the car so they could head to Stars Hallow for the wedding shower the next day. Once Logan started driving, he saw how tired she still was and told her to go back to sleep.

When Rory and Logan arrived at the Dragonfly, Logan woke her again so they could meet Luke and Lorelai for dinner. Afterwards, Luke headed back to the diner, while Rory and Logan went with Lorelai to decide how they wanted the room to be set up for the reception.

On their way up to their room, they saw Finn, Bri, and Maddy checking in where Maddy told them they were having a slumber party. Finn quietly explained they thought it was stupid to get two rooms, and this was the best way to explain it to Maddy. Colin and Steph wouldn't be arriving until tomorrow since Colin had to meet with a professor in the morning.

--

The next morning, Logan and Rory woke up and headed downstairs so they could help Honor and Lorelai get everything ready before guests started to arrive. Finn and Bri appeared a while later, Maddy was being watched with Martha and Davy in the hotel, and offered to help finish setting up.

Rory and Logan had been greeting guessed when she looked up and was surprised to see Madeline and Louise walk in.

"Hi Rory," Madeline greeted happily, giving her a hug.

Louise hugged her as well, and then looked appreciatively over Logan, who was standing next to her. Smiling in her flirtatious, but not threatening way, she said, "Hi, I'm Louise."

Logan just raised his eye brow at Rory, causing her to laugh at his face. Grabbing his arm, she introduced, "Louise, Madeline, meet my fiancé Logan Huntzberger…"

Louise hadn't had the chance to meet Logan before and couldn't resist commenting, "You're cuter that I imagined."

"Louise," Rory chided, but in a friendly manner.

"What? The gossip was out of control when word spread that he was engaged," she said and turned towards Logan, "It was a major disappointment for your adoring fans. Crying, hysterics, plots for revenge again your fiancée…you know the usual."

"We were _dying_ to know who it was. And to imagine, it was our sweet little Rory Gilmore," Madeline informed her.

"Why didn't you call us with the news yourself?" Louise said with a mock pout on her face.

"It took a few days for the fact that we were engaged to sink in before I thought to call people, and by that point, I figured you already knew. You guys always know these things," Rory argued, "It was in the paper!"

"Rory, if we read the paper for our gossip, how would we stay ahead of everyone else?" Madeline asked clearly confused.

"We assumed the fiancée wasn't someone from society, because at first, the only thing we were hearing was it was a scandal…" Louise stopped herself, realizing that the scandal wasn't her not being society, but about her parents, and now was at a loss for what to say, hoping Rory didn't take it the wrong way.

"I know what you meant," Rory told her, trying to help her out.

Louise gave a smile and recovered, by changing the subject, "Besides, you always avoided society, now you're marrying into it, and **how** could you have failed to mention he was a Huntzberger?"

"Again, I thought you knew," Rory said, fighting the urge to roll her eyes, and finally finished her introduction, "Logan, this is Louise Grant and Madeline Lynn, the gossip queens I went to Chilton with. We ran into each other on spring break…"

"I still can't imagine you on spring break," Logan commented, remembering how surprised he was when he found out.

"We stayed for a month," Madeline stated proudly.

"Right," Rory said, picking back up with her story, "Then, I saw them again at a charity dinner my Grandma dragged me to, they saved me."

"Where was I?" Logan asked confused.

"London."

"Ah, well then I must thank you for saving Ace here," he said to the girls sincerely.

"I mentioned that I still talk to Paris, and after talking for a while, we decided we should all get together."

"Sounds like fun," Logan commented.

"It was, and since then, we've met up a few more times, but mostly, we keep in touch by email," she finished explaining. Turning back to the girls, she said sincerely, "It's so good to see you, thanks for coming."

"Wouldn't have miss it, I had to see it to believe it. I never figured you as Huntzberger's type, it was a bit surprising to hear," Louise commented.

"Very cute," Madeline added.

"That he is," Rory confirmed, knowing that they weren't actually trying to hit on him, "but a few more guests just arrived, so why don't you go in and torment Paris, and I'll find you later."

As they walked away, and the couple turned to greet their next guest, Logan whispered, "I wasn't sure about them at first, but if they can get under Gellar's skin, they're all right in my book."

Rory just laughed and said, "Laura, thanks for coming."

"Of course, and let me say this is much more my type of place than where these things are normally held."

"How are you feeling?" Rory asked, but before Laura could answer, she added, "How's the baby?"

"Good, we're both good," Laura reassured her.

"How's Seth?" Logan asked.

She smiled, "Wanted me to tell you that when his father sees the Duke paraphernalia and threatens to kill him, he's sending him to you."

"I'll watch my back," Logan promised. While they saved most of what they bought for the inevitable baby shower, Logan couldn't resist sending him the Duke clothes, he knew Seth would love them.

"Is Steph here?" Laura asked shyly, she wasn't sure who else she'd know.

"She is. I think she's sitting with Bri, the girl who snagged Finn. I don't think you had a chance to talk to her at the charity dinner, but I think you'll like her," Rory offered.

"Oh, this should be good," Laura teased, and headed in.

They continued greeting people as they arrived, Rory noted a handful of woman from the DAR, but she was a bit surprised when she saw one of Logan's aunts and two of his cousins walk in.

"Logan!" the youngest one, probably around 13, said excitedly, and gave him a big hug.

"Hi Holly," Logan said, not quite in the same tone, but enough to indulge the girl, "You met Rory at Honor's wedding, right?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod, "Hi Rory, Mom says you'll be my cousin soon too."

"That's true, are you excited to come to the wedding?" Rory asked.

"Yeah. I got a new dress, and Mom said I could even wear some make-up," she said grinning even more at the last part, "Logan is Honor here?"

"Yeah, she's inside, but I bet she could use some help," he offered.

"Okay," she said before hurrying off.

"Sorry about that, she's just excited," Colleen commented.

"It's fine," Rory assured her.

This caused Logan to say, "Aunt Colleen, Andrea, you remember Rory."

"Of course," Colleen said with a smile, "It's a pleasure to see you again, and congratulations."

"Thank you," Rory said and then exchanged a similar greeting with Andrea, Logan's 18 year old cousin."

"Did you guys come together," Logan asked.

"Yeah, Aunt Colleen picked me up at Yale on her way down," Andrea explained.

"You're at Yale?" Rory asked.

"Freshman year."

"How do you like?" Rory asked, interested to hear her answer.

"Classes are good and challenging, I like most of my professors, but don't worry Logan, I'm having fun too."

"How much fun?" Logan questioned, thinking there was something more to that statement.

She glanced at Rory then back to Logan and said, "IOP," with a smirk very much like Logan's planted on her face.

Rory laughed and teased, "Just avoid the scaffolding," then excused herself as a few more people walked in.

Once everyone arrived, Lorelai thanked them for coming and to enjoy their lunch, saying they'd get started with the festivities afterwards.

Logan quickly ate a few small bites, but then whispered to Rory that he was going to talk to Colin. Seeing her nod, he got Colin's and Finn's attention and said, "Hey guys, Lorelai asked me to move a few things, can you help?"

"Sure," Finn said, essentially answering for both of them, insuring Colin would follow. The guys left, and Logan led them upstairs towards one of the empty rooms, only to be sidetracked by Finn who asked if they could stop by his room to pick up the part of the gift Bri had 'accidentally' forgotten.

As Finn rummaged through his luggage to get the gift that he had purposely left in his bag for this very purpose, Colin asked, "Why are we the only men here Logan?" It's not that he didn't want to be here, he just felt extremely out of place in a room essentially filled with all women.

"Luke's here and so is my Dad. Chris was invited too, but had a meeting."

"What does that have to do with us?" Colin challenged, pointing out, "They're the parents of the bride and groom."

"Because you're my best friends and didn't want me to suffer alone," Logan offered.

"Are you sure about that?" Colin asked dryly.

"I'm here because the lovely Lorelai promised me a kiss," Finn said seriously.

"Finn, you're here with your girlfriend," Colin reminded him.

"And Lorelai's here with her husband," Finn answered, then dropping to a knee declared, "Our love is forbidden."

Colin just ignored him used to years of his theatrics, and looked around to observe their surroundings. Confused by the lack of anything to really move except for Finn's, Bri's, and Maddy's stuff, asked Logan, "I thought you said we had to move something, all I see is a room full of luggage Phineas over there should be able to move himself."

"I lied, sue me," Logan replied as Finn shot Colin a glare at the use of his full name.

"I may," Colin mocked, then asked, "So what's really going on?"

"We wanted to talk to you about something," Finn explained, speaking up to make it clear this something he was a part of as much as Logan.

"What?" Colin asked confused about his friends' behavior.

"Rory told me that Steph was thinking about leaving her job, wanted to find something different," Logan started, deciding it was the best way to approach the subject.

"She was thinking about working for a teen outreach program, but she always loved engineering, I told her that I thought she'd be just as happy finding a different engineering job."

"How could you say that! Do you not care about her at all?" Logan said, frustrated by his friend's behavior.

Hoping to get Logan to calm down and to understand what Colin was thinking, Finn asked, "But what if another engineering job wouldn't make her happy, but working someplace like that would."

"Now's just a really bad time," Colin explained.

"Why?" Logan asked, some, but not all, of the edge in his voice gone.

"I'm still in school: She's the only one working."

"We know that, what does that have to do with anything?" Finn asked, getting a bit more defensive of Steph.

A little embarrassed, but knowing they were his best friends, Colin said, "She's the only one making money."

"Colin, your dad's paying for school, he gives you a monthly allowance while you're in school, you both have multimillion dollar trust funds, and anything society related gets paid for out of your family's account," Logan pointed out, making sure to point out two of what he knew would be their major expenses.

"I know all of that, but there are still other things to pay for. When we moved in together, we talked and both decided that we didn't want to use our trust funds unless it's an emergency. To do that, we have to pay for rent, food, bills, all the everyday things with her salary."

"And her shopping sprees?" Logan asked, knowing there was no way she was paying for that with her salary.

"She's daddy's little girl," Colin reminded his friends.

"He could never tell her no," Finn commented with a smile, remembering all the times she pouted just to get his credit card for an afternoon when they were younger.

"My point is, we don't like using their money for everything, and if she takes this job, she'd be making a lot less," Colin tried to explain.

"Colin, you graduate in a year and a half right?" Logan asked, knowing with Colin it was best to approach the situation very logically.

"Yes," Colin answered, even though it wasn't really necessary.

"And when you do, you'll be working at one of your dad's firms right?" Logan continued.

"I may not like the man as a father, but he's an excellent lawyer," Colin commented.

"And how much will you be making then?" Logan asked. He didn't really need to know the answer, just wanted Colin to think about this more in the grand scheme of things.

"The first year or two I'll be working strictly as a lawyer," Colin pointed out, reminding Logan that he wouldn't start out making as much as people would assume.

"So that means you'll only get dragged into meetings by your dad once a month rather than once a week?" Finn asked, but also pointing out that he'll never be a regular lawyer at one of his dad's firms.

"Exactly," Colin said, knowing it was true. "But, even so, while I do, my salary won't be as high."

"What does that mean?" Logan asked.

Really not wanting to talk about it, but knowing answering would be the easiest way to make this conversation end, Colin said, "Probably between 100 and 150 thousand, but nothing's been set."

Logan fought the urge to roll his eyes, but wanting to make his point, asked, "And after that, when you start fulfilling your duty as heir?"

"Then, my time will be split," Colin explained, "I still need to build a reputation as a lawyer, but I'll slowly have more corporate responsibilities, yes."

"And you're salary then?" Finn asked, getting impatient with Colin not giving them the information he knew they wanted.

"At first, it will probably be around a half million and go up from there."

"Right," Logan said, wanting to draw attention to that fact, "do you really think the change in her salary now will have a big impact in the long run? So what if you use some money from your trust funds to supplement it for the next year and a half. Your trust funds will make up any lost salary just on interest alone in one year."

"It's the principle of it…" Colin started.

"Stop," Finn said, being serious, which was enough to grab the boys' attention. "We love Steph like a sister, and if you don't want us to beat the crap out of you, you need to support her doing something that she wants to do. She supports you going to law school, she doesn't bother you when you need to study, she helps quiz you when you ask. How can you be so selfish to do anything but encourage her to find a job she would love?"

His speech left both Colin and Logan silent. Colin because he was thinking seriously about what his friend said, and as he did, he began to feel more and more guilty about how he responded when Steph talked to him the other day.

Logan, on the other hand, was quiet because he couldn't remember the last time Finn was so dead serious…it may have been when Finn yelled at him at the airport for having sex with Rory. He was always surprised at how protective he was of the women in his life, and made a mental note to never upset Bri…that was sure to set Finn off.

Deciding he should say something to comfort his friend, Logan spoke up, "Colin, I know I would be shocked if Rory told me one day she wanted to leave journalism, I'd be worried she was giving up something she loved without thinking it through."

"Exactly!" Colin agreed, but his mind was still thinking through everything being said.

"But, you know Steph. Working with people, talking to girls…she'd be good at that. She'd love doing it," Logan pointed out.

After a few more minutes of silent contemplation, he said, "She would be really good at that."

"Are you going to talk to her?" Finn asked, wanting to make sure that he knew what he needed to do.

Colin nodded, but then asked, "What am I supposed to say? She's probably mad at me for not taking it more seriously."

Finn clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, "Just tell her that you were being your usual self-centered and money focused self and needed to be smacked in the head before you could see the situation clearly."

"Finn, I'm being serious."

"So am I," he replied, as the group started walking back towards the party downstairs.

--

Rory had finished up her lunch and walked around talking to some of the people who were there. But eventually, she began wondering if the boys would ever reappear, but when she heard her mom make an announcement that they would start opening gifts soon, she knew she needed to find them.

She walked into the lobby, and was startled by the sight of one of the last people she expected to see at her wedding shower. Finding her voice, she asked, "Francine?"

"Hi Rory," the older woman replied, making sure to use her nickname and not Lorelai, trying to show her granddaughter that she wasn't here to cause problems.

"Is there something you need?" Rory asked, not sure why else she would be there.

"I didn't want to cause a scene, so I thought I'd wait until I could talk to you alone."

"Okay…"

"I just wanted to tell you congratulations, Logan's always seemed like a dependable young man, and I'm glad you found each other. I also wanted to bring you something," she explained.

"Oh," Rory said surprised, "you didn't have to do that."

Francine took a deep breath preparing herself to say what she knew she needed to. After a slight pause she began, "I'm not going to try to justify my actions when Straub and I came to dinner all those years ago, but I will say I'm sorry. I let everything that happened between Christopher and Lorelai keep me from getting to know you, watching you grow up, and that dinner ruined the chance I did get. I know we'll never be close, but I hope eventually we can spend some time together talking without fighting, maybe even get together as a family with your dad and Gigi."

Rory was speechless and before she could think, she heard herself saying, "I can't make promises, but I don't think that's unreasonable."

"I truly am sorry Rory. I never meant to upset you that day," Francine said.

"Why didn't you apologize sooner?" Rory asked, miffed that this was happening now.

"When we found out Straub was sick, it was such a surprise. It seemed like we barely had any time before he was gone, and he was already so sick," she explained, trying not to cry as she remembered the events. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "When he passed away, I grieved for a while, but as time passed, it made me realize that I won't be around forever. I started to think about the things I wanted to do with the time I had left, like getting to know you…"

"Oh," Rory said, honestly unsure of what else to say.

"Will you open the presents I brought you?" she asked, then promised, "Then I'll go, I really don't want to make things awkward for you."

"Sure, why don't we sit over there," she suggested and pointed to some chairs, having no idea what she would have bought.

Francine picked up the gifts off a nearby table and followed Rory. Once they sat down, she silently handed over a gift bag.

Just as Rory was about to reach in, Francine said, "This one really isn't a wedding gift…I just swore I would give it to you if I ever talked to you again."

"Okay," Rory said, but now, much more curious about what was in the bag. She reached in and pulled out an extremely soft light purple piece of cloth. Now even more confused, she opened it up and realized it was a baby blanket. As she looked closer, she saw the name _Lorelai_ embroidered in the corner in a darker shade of purple. She was shocked, but set it aside knowing she had felt something else in the bag.

She reached in again, and this time saw it was a framed picture of her, Francine, and Straub at what looked like the hospital. It must have been take right after she was born.

Before she could say anything, Francine said, "I thought you should have them."

"Thank you," Rory said honestly. She wasn't sure how she felt about them yet, but they were a more personal gift than she ever expected to get from Francine.

Not wanting to dwell on the past, Francine said, "You should open the others, they're wedding related."

"Okay," Rory agreed, glad she didn't have to talk more about the baby memorabilia. The next gift she opened was a clock for the mantle. It was very elegant, and Rory would guess expensive, but a modern classic style that suited them as well. On the front under the face was a two line inscription:

_The Huntzberger Family_

_Established 2007_

It wasn't on their registry, but she liked it and offered, "It would be perfect in the study."

Smiling at her approval, Francine said, "I wanted to find something Logan would like as well."

"I'm sure he'll like it," Rory assured her.

"This last one is something I thought you would like," Francine told her.

Rory nodded to acknowledge her statement and then unwrapped it. This revealed an unmarked box and upon opening it, a lot of protective packaging. Realizing it was fragile, Rory carefully pulled out the contents and saw a beautiful, yet slightly funky lamp. An original Tiffany's lamp, if she wasn't mistaken.

"I wasn't sure what kind of style you had, but I know this is something Lorelai would have liked, and she is your mother…" Francine explained, not sure about her choice.

Grinning, Rory said, "It's perfect," thinking about how Shira would complain about it before she realized what it was and how much it was worth.

Doing what she came to do, Francine decided she should start to make her exit and said, "I'm glad you liked everything."

"I did, thank you so much," Rory said truthfully, but also remembering the decorum Emily was so keen on.

"You're welcome," Francine replied, then standing and wanting to excuse herself, offered, "I hope you enjoy your shower."

"You're not staying?" Rory asked surprised that she would have driven out from Hartford just for that.

"There are people who don't like me very much in there, and I don't want to make anyone upset with my presence," Francine said truthfully, then suggested, "I was hoping I could have dinner with you and your father. I know you're busy with your wedding, but maybe we can figure something out in the new year."

"I'll talk to Dad, but I don't see why not," Rory offered. As Francine took a few steps towards the door, Rory couldn't stop herself and said, "You should really stay."

"If you're sure," Francine questioned, after everything that happened she didn't want to force herself into Rory's life.

"Of course, I'm sure there are people here who would love to see you, but if you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to be hunting down Logan."

"Okay," Francine said, heading towards the dinning room.

Rory left Francine and went outside to try and find Logan since she didn't know where he could be inside. She walked around the porch, and having no luck but seeing their cars were still there she knew they hadn't gone far. She walked back inside wondering if they missed each other and the guys had made it back to the party already. She spotted them coming down the steps from a room upstairs.

"Logan," she called out.

"Hey Ace," he replied.

"Everything okay?" she teased.

"Just needed to escape," he replied, but Rory knew what they had been talking about.

"Well, your time's up. Your presence is needed," she informed him, then turned back to the party, knowing the boys would follow.

--

Rory and Logan sat down in the two chairs Lorelai had set up at the front of the room for them, and everyone around the room was talking in small groups. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Logan's aunt and cousins were on the opposite side of the room from Shira. She could also see Madeline and Louise talking Paris's ear off, while she rolled her eyes, but Rory knew Paris loved it. Francine was in the back, but was talking to one of the DAR woman, while Emily was throwing questions at Lorelai, who looked ready to snap.

Lorelai saw Rory and Logan sit down, thankful she could escape Emily's clutches, and went to the front of the group to tell everyone that to start things off, she wanted to give them one of her gifts. Grinning proudly, she handed Rory a large box. There was a complex ribbon around it causing Rory to groan. First, she tried to untie it, but soon saw that wasn't going to work, then she tried to slip it off, but it was too tight.

She was starting to get frustrated when Logan said, "Let me get it."

She handed him the present and watched as he immediately opened his pocket knife, cut the ribbon, and hand it back to her causing the woman gathered to shout "One!"

"Logan!" Rory said in disbelief.

"What?" he asked, clearly confused, both by her reaction to his help and the counting that seemed to have started.

"You're not supposed to break the ribbon."

"Why not?"

"They say the number of ribbons you break is how many children you'll have. It's a shower game, and crazy people, like my mother, try to make it hard to get the ribbons off in one piece. We're supposed to try equally hard to get them off without breaking, you don't just cut the ribbon," she explained.

"That's asinine, who made up that game?"

"Probably drunk women who were bored at yet another shower," Rory said seriously, gesturing to the crowd as if to show him how excited they got when the ribbon broke, then instructed, "Just don't break anymore Huntzberger."

Smirking, Logan leaned over to tease her, whispering very quietly in her ear, "I thought we wanted to break at least one more"

This statement made Rory instantly go red in the cheeks and turn to glare at her highly amused fiancé, "No."

Seeing her daughter's frustration, Lorelai said to Logan, "The longer you argue this, the longer this will take."

"Fine, I'll play your game," he said defeated, but a look of mischief was evident on his face.

"Good boy," Lorelai chided, which got a laugh out of even some of their normally stuffy guests. Having the issue settled, Rory finished opening the gift from her mom and saw inside it had two things. The first thing she pulled out was a blanket.

Before she could say anything, because she was looking at all the familiar fabrics Lorelai said, "It's a throw for your couch. I made it, thought you could use a piece of your old home in your new home, and it has some good memories."

Rory nodded, seeing things she knew were her baby clothes and other things from her childhood. Then something caught her eye, "That's my skirt from Chilton!"

"I wanted the blanket to encompass all aspects of your life," Lorelai commented.

"Then, why is there a Harvard piece?" Logan asked, almost offended by it.

Lorelai grinned, "I thought you'd like that. But, I will have you know that was a shirt Rory had when she was younger."

Joining in the teasing Rory looked at him and said, "I was young and foolish, will you ever forgive me?"

Logan just rolled his eyes, while Lorelai said, "You haven't finished looking in the box!"

"Sorry," Rory replied, and then pulled out a fairly large piggy bank jar that had the words _Money for Coffee_ on it.

Lorelai smirked at Logan, but managed to get out with a straight face, "Logan, this is a _very_ serious thing that I am entrusting you with…You must ensure it stays at least half full all the time or my baby will wither away and die."

Rory turned to Logan and, giving him her best pout and puppy dog eyes, held out the jar making sure the words faced him. Logan tried to resist, but eventually caved, pulling out his wallet and dropping in a fifty. Seeing it, Rory quickly smiled, gave him a kiss, and bounced in her seat, refusing to let go of the jar.

As this was going on, Finn pulled Lane aside.

Confused, Lane asked, "What do you want?"

Before Finn could answer, they heard the crowd yell, "Two!" and Rory scream, "Logan!"

Laughing, Finn started, "Well there is something I wanted to do for the rehearsal dinner…"

--

The next gift they opened was from Honor, who said she put together some essential wedding and bride things. Inside it, Rory found a unity candle, a set of toasting glasses, a cake cutting set, guest sign in book, a pre-wedding bride and groom package to a spa, and a cute day of outfit for her to wear the morning of the wedding. This last item, as Honor pointed out, had to be zip up so as not to interfere with her hair.

After that, they opened their gift from Emily, which had a full setting of wine glasses and formal candlestick holders.

Rory opened an array of gifts, most of which were from their registry, but when she got to the one from Miss Patty and Babette, she almost died of embarrassment. She found a completely sheer bra and thong, metal handcuffs, an assortment of body spreads and lotions, dirty dice, and a sex coupon book.

Seeing her shocked expression, Logan couldn't help but lean over to get a peak. When he did, he grinned, but smartly remained silent.

She eventually opened a second gift from Lorelai, a new digital camera. She and Logan both owned one, but Lorelai told them it had a bunch of new features, including no limitation on the video recording length, which she thought would be good on their honeymoon.

Seeing they were almost done opening the gifts, Colin grabbed Steph's arm and pulled her just outside the room so they could talk alone.

Once they were there, Colin blurted, "You should apply for the job."

"What?" Steph asked, clearly confused why he was bringing this up now.

"If that's what you want to do, I think you should."

"Why?" Steph asked wanting to know what changed his mind.

This made Colin explain the things he had talked to the guys about earlier. He wanted her to know he really meant it, and he wanted her to go for the job if that's what she wanted to do.

"I should be mad at you," Steph said after he finished telling her everything. She had been hurt when he dismissed the career change she wanted to make, but if she was honest with herself, she knew it was just how Colin was. With something that big, he needed time to process it, to look at it in the big picture.

"I'm sorry for being self centered and focused on money, but now that I'm thinking clearly, I want you to know I think you should apply," he said remembering Finn's last suggestion, but rewording it to better suit himself.

Steph grinned, "Remind me to thank Logan and Finn later. As for you, you'll be forgiven as soon as you find a way to make it up to me."

"A shopping spree on my blackcard?"

"You can't bribe me with something I already have."

"It's not yours!" he pointed out, then realizing he would never win that battle asked, "How bout I take you away for a long weekend wherever you want to go, and I'll promise to leave all my law books at home?"

"Alright," Steph agreed, happy that he seemed to be serious about being sorry and wanting her to apply, but to be safe, she added, "but don't think I'll forgive you again mister."

--

"Sixteen Logan!" Rory yelled as the couple walked away after opening their last gift and thanking everyone. "Sixteen?" she asked again in disbelief.

"You said it kept them entertained," Logan said in the most serious voice he could muster. "I was just doing my part to make sure no one died of boredom."

"Did you see the look on my Grandma's face when so many of the ribbons broke…I could practically see her mind imagining all the kids running around…"

"Rory, no one thinks we would have anywhere near that many kids."

"Why would you do that?" she asked, ignoring his comment because she knew it was true.

"Oh, they all loved it," Logan dismissed, but saw Rory wasn't convinced. Leaning into her, he said in a husky voice, "It's your own fault, you just had to give me that annoyed look every time one broke…"

"And how does that make this my fault?" she challenged.

"Well one, it's an incredibly hot and sexy look on you, and two, you've given that look to me before on more than one occasion, and we've almost always had really great sex after."

Rory realized that he was actually being serious about that last confession, but playing her part perfectly, she left out a light-hearted laugh and patted his cheek, "Don't worry, that won't be happening tonight," and turned and walked away.

Logan watched, shocked as she walked away, and mentally cursed himself for taking his own little version of the game as far as he had. Sighing, he shook his head and followed the path Rory had taken, formulating a plan to change her mind.

--

Rory went around thanking everyone for their gifts and answering the questions they all inevitably asked about the wedding. At one point, she was pulled aside by Lorelai who asked why on earth Francine Hayden was there. Rory explained what had happened earlier, and while Lorelai was still a bit skeptical, she had to admit the woman was conversing politely with some of the woman she knew so let it drop.

When the party ended, Rory and Logan thanked everyone and said goodbye. When Francine walked up, she offered them congratulations again and thanked Rory for asking her to stay. Rory smiled politely and said once more that she would talk to her Dad about setting up a dinner. Rory wasn't sure what would happen at it, but felt that Francine was being sincere so she couldn't help but agree. Besides at this point, there was nothing she could do but wait and see what happened.

Mitchum also pulled Rory and Logan aside before he left with Shira, first to apologize for the sheets and towels she bought them, but also to give them an envelope. Before the couple could do anything other than look surprised and say thank you, Mitchum had walked away. They looked at it and finally getting curious, Rory opened it. When she did, she let out a gasp. Logan looked over her shoulder to read it and saw his Dad had not only hired someone to redo all the shelving for their study, he was also supplying new furniture and accessories, an old world map from his house that Logan explained he had always been fascinated with growing up, and their pick of 50 books from the family's library.

Before Rory could say anything, Logan said, "We said we'd talk about all the gifts tomorrow, that includes this." Rory nodded mutely, still too shocked to argue.

--

Logan and Rory, with the help of their friends, Luke, and Lorelai, slowly packed everything they received into their SUV, a Mercedes GL Logan had for when he either didn't want to or couldn't drive his Porsche. The girls were packaging everything while they had the guys carrying them out to the car.

They were working in relative silence when Shira exclaimed, "What is that odious thing!"

Shocked by her outcry, the others looked around, but Rory was the first to point and ask, "The lamp?"

"It's atrocious," Shira said, turning her nose up at and stating, "It doesn't have a place in my son's home."

Just as she finished her last declaration, Lorelai grinned, "I love it!"

Rory smiled, "Francine said you would, that's why decided to give it to me."

Emily had spoken briefly with Francine but wasn't aware of what she had given Rory. Looking closer, she gasped, "Is that a Tiffany's lamp?"

Rory nodded, but Emily just continued, "And if I know Francine, it's an original. I wonder where she found it. One that detailed and of that size, they're extremely rare…"

Lorelai looked it over, but asked, "I wonder how much it cost."

Rory took the pause to say, "She said it was in the family, but she thought I would like this one."

Emily turned a condescending smile to Shira and asked, "It's beautiful?"

"I guess, but I don't understand what the big deal is," Shira commented, looking at the lamp skeptically.

Lorelai walked near Rory and whispered, "You didn't say it was an original Tiffany's!"

"Sorry," Rory said is a loud whisper.

"You so have to have dinner with her."

"Lorelai, what are you two going on about now?"

"Nothing Mom," Lorelai replied.

Thankfully, the boys walked back in, and Logan and Luke carried out the last, smaller load to the SUV.

Looking around, Lorelai said, "I think that's everything, is there anything you need before you leave?"

Finn walked right up in front of her and puckered his lips without saying a word.

Rory noticed this and yelled, "Finn, what are you doing?"

Breaking his pose, he said, "She promised me a kiss if I came. Here I am, I want my kiss."

"Finn, I'm standing right here," Bri said with the roll of her eyes.

"I'll be right there Doll," he promised.

Lorelai pretended to look him over and commented, "I don't know if you deserve it."

Emily was shocked, "Lorelai! How can you even think about this, you're a married woman, this is not proper."

Grinning, Lorelai repeated, her mother's word, "Well, if you say it's not proper…" then leaned forward and pecked him quickly on the lips.

When she pulled back, Finn smiled and announced, "Thank you," and walked over to Bri giving her a slightly longer kiss.

Emily was just beside herself, "Lorelai really, what kind of example are you setting…"

Luke walked in just in time to hear Emily's comment and asked his wife, "What did you do now?"

"I kissed Finn, you may have some competition."

"He can have you," Luke deadpanned, then walked to Lorelai, kissed her himself, and said, "I have to back to the diner."

"I'll be by later and thank you," she said still smiling as he headed out.

Everyone else gathered up their personal belongings and said their goodbyes before heading out.

--

Late Wednesday morning, Logan walked onto the fifth floor of the _Observer_. A few people greeted him, he even got a flirtatious wink and wave from Alison. Mentally shaking his head, he kept walking to Mike's office, knocked and was let in. When he was, he didn't wait for formalities, instead, he said, "We need to have a talk."

"Is something wrong sir?" Mike asked, wondering what had his boss so upset.

"As a matter a fact, there is. Last week, Rory spent over ten hours a day, every day, here, and for two of those days, it was nearly twelve. I know things can get busy at a newspaper, but when it continued again this week, I started to wonder what was going on here."

"Sir, like you said, newspapers can get busy."

"See, I have a hard time accepting that, and do you want to know why?"

"Why?" Mike asked, now a little afraid of what Logan would say next, well just afraid of Logan in general.

"Monday, I had to call her and convince her to come home at 8. Then last night, I came here at 9:30 to make her come home. She kept saying how much work she had, so I was wondering if there was some crisis going on that I didn't know about. But, when I got here last night, she was the only person in the building, and from what I've heard, everyone else was gone by, at the latest, seven."

"Well, I don't…"

Not wanting to let him talk yet, Logan raised his voice slightly and continued, "I am very aware of how a newspaper is run, but I am equally as aware of how to give assignments. You want to be an editor, you want me to like you, but how are you showing you have even an inkling of how to handle that responsibility? By purposely overloading one writer?"

"She asked me for tougher assignments," he tried to defend.

"Tougher, not enough to kill someone," Logan corrected.

"Well, she should have been…"

"No," Logan said firmly, then redirected the statement he hadn't finished, "You shouldn't have abused your authority. I had a meeting with Charles today to discuss the issue and decided that he will be keeping a closer eye on how things are being run in this department. To help encourage you to use better discretion when giving assignments, we're putting you on a one month probation that comes with a few stipulations. You can't leave at the end of the day until the last member of your staff has."

"But what if I…"

Knowing what he was going to say, Logan explained, "We know you have meetings to attend, but during this month, you will have to notify Charles's office of all meetings you have outside this building, and if you need to leave for personal reasons, it must be okayed by him first.

"This will start today, and don't try to reassign work or pressure her so you can leave sooner. And, I have my ways to know whether you are complying with this or not. You created this problem yourself.

"When your month is up, you will have another meeting with Charles to go over your status, but if you follow these guidelines, there shouldn't be any problems. However, if it happens again, it will become much more serious."

When Mike didn't say anything, Logan continued, "I understand that departments need to work as a team, that the work load may not always be perfectly balanced and sometimes there is slack that needs to be picked up, but it should never be distributed as unevenly as you have been doing it, and it shouldn't always be the same person picking up the slack."

Unable to stay quiet longer, he challenged, "So she comes crying to you, and you storm in here to fix it? What was all that about not being treated any different,"

"First of all, any normal employee would have made a complaint to Charles after what you pulled. Second, if I found out any of my editors were abusing their position to hold a grudge against someone on their staff, I'd be saying this same thing.

"You're the one who made this a problem. You're right, she doesn't want special treatment, but she does want and deserve fair treatment. Can you do that?"

"Yes sir," Mike said quickly.

"Good," Logan said with a firm nod, "We should head to the floor meeting."

--

Mike and Logan exited his office and made their way to the conference room for the 11:00 meeting of everyone from their floor. Mike stood off to the side, seeing as Logan had called it, it was his meeting to run.

"Good morning," Logan greeted. "As you know, next week we're hosting our yearly collegiate journalism conference. It begins on Wednesday and ends on Friday, and as you will remember from past years, it is for first and second year students interested in the field of journalism. We have already contacted people who are involved in the workshops, but as I'm sure you've heard, we are also having people help staff the event.

"I have the tentative timetable with me. I'll be posting it in the lunchroom once this meeting is over, and everyone needs to initial next to their name anywhere it appears. By doing this, you are confirming that you can work at that time. If you have a personal or work related reason you cannot, there is an email at the bottom for who you should contact. The final timetable will be emailed out before 9 am Monday morning.

"While you are there, remember, you are there to help the students as much as you are to represent _Huntzberger Media_ in a positive light. Does anyone have any questions?" Logan asked, concluding the same generic speech he had been giving what seemed like all week.

Over the next half an hour, Logan answered a variety of questions. While he did, a few people were talking in the back.

"Did you hear him in Mike's office earlier?" Julie, Mike's secretary asked.

"No what happened?" Danielle asked.

"I couldn't hear everything, but Huntzberger was yelling at him about how much work he's been giving her. He sounded furious."

"I can't believe she didn't just talk to Mike herself," Danielle scoffed. "And really, she usually had 3 articles and was always done early. Why should adding a forth push her that far over the edge."

"How was working with her?" Julie asked Jason, remembering they had worked on an article together the week before.

"She actually had some good ideas and got her work done by the deadlines we set," Jason offered. Working with her had been a much more pleasant experience than he would have guessed.

"Really?" Julie asked, "I heard she was staying late a lot."

"I heard that too, but why does it matter to me. She obviously made sure to get her part of our article done, I don't care how she did."

"But doesn't that seem odd to you?" Danielle asked, "Before last week everything was getting done so efficiently and then all of a sudden all those extra hours? Something had to change."

"And you don't think it was her assignments?" Jason asked. At the skeptical looks on the faces of the two women beside him, he explained, "Our article had us both running all around town for interviews and tours, the article she had with Lou was just time consuming, at least that's what Lou said. I read her articles, and they would have required a fair amount of research and a number of interviews."

"I guess," Daniele agreed, but not convinced.

"Well, I did hear Huntzberger was out of town last week," Julie said, a theory forming in her mind.

"So?" Jason asked, not sure why that mattered.

"Do you think maybe having him around is what made her get things done quickly?" Julie asked.

Before either could respond, Logan was calling everyone's attention for a few final comments then dismissed the meeting. As the three were leaving the room, they heard Logan ask anyone who was involved with a workshop to stay for a few more minutes, and they couldn't help but notice that his fiancée remained seated.

Once they were clear of the room, Sam walked up to them and asked, "Did you know she was doing a workshop?"

"No, but are you surprised?" Alison sneered.

"They do ask for the recommendation of one writer from each department…" Sue began.

"And you think she's the best writer on our staff?" Danielle questioned.

Rolling her eyes, Sue continued, "**And**, a few recent graduates and photographers from each paper."

"That is true," Julie agreed, even if she didn't like it, so added, "But no one else was picked."

"Rob was," Sam conceded.

"But he's not a writer," Jason pointed out.

"What could she possibly be giving a workshop on? How to 'please' the boss?" Alison asked in a condescending tone.

"I guess we'll have to see at the convention…" Sam responded, as they all headed to the cafeteria to find out their assignments.

--

Rory remained seated and noticed the photographer Sam was the only other person from _City_, but from _Entertainment_, the Editor and a writer stayed behind as well. One thing they liked to do was have people from different papers pair up to run the workshops, mainly to make sure they had a wider background to pull from. They also liked to make sure they had a handful of their younger reporters involved because they found that the younger reporters related better to the college students and helped bridge the gap. Even so, Rory had been surprised, but excited, when she was told that she would be giving a workshop with Heather, the editor from the _New York Times_ she had met when she was at Logan's office, on ways to cover local news while keeping it interesting. Logan had told her that Heather specifically asked to work with her, which Rory was surprised by, but happy to do. Her other responsibility, which she wasn't sure if it counted as a workshop, was serving on a panel of recent graduates during a luncheon to answer questions about starting out in journalism.

When everyone had cleared out, Logan gave them each summaries of the workshops they were conducting and said, "We need to get these finalized so everything can be printed, if you need to make any changes have them in by Friday at five."

As he said this, Rory glanced down and was surprised to see two workshops listed, "Um Logan, I think you gave me the wrong thing. I'm only doing a workshop with Heather."

Logan smirked, "No, that's right."

Confused, Rory read closer and asked, "This says it's about balancing campus and non-campus news in a college paper."

"Yes," Logan confirmed.

"Why is this the first I'm hearing of it?" she said, starting to panic.

"Don't worry, you're partner has everything under control," he promised, which made her look down. Her eyes widened before shooting him a glare.

Before she could say anything, he was talking again, "We want these workshops to be informative and helpful, but not dry and boring. Make sure you balance your time between talking, having them do exercises or some sort of participation, and questions…"

Logan didn't talk for long, but made sure to hit on some key points before making sure everyone knew what was going on. As everyone left the room, Rory stayed behind. Once they were gone, she closed the door slightly annoyed asked, "Why didn't my _partner_ inform me of our workshop?"

"He didn't?" Logan asked innocently.

"No."

"Must have slipped his mind," he continued.

"Logan," she said in a warning tone.

Sighing, he answered, "A workshop fell through last week while I was in Ohio, and my Dad asked if I could do this as a replacement. It was one we had brainstormed, but didn't pick when we started working on this. He also suggested I work with you.

"Why?" she asked, hoping it would be an answer she would like.

"You were a college editor within the last year, it hasn't been long since you were dealing with these issues, so why not you, and I graduated recently enough. My Dad also said he wanted me to be more involved in things like this, get my name out there so people are used to seeing it. This is something we both know, why shouldn't we do it?"

"You could have told me when you found out," she challenged, taking a defensive stance, "How hard would it have been to mention it when you called?"

"I think it may have killed me," he deadpanned, then teased, "Besides, no way was I going to miss seeing the reaction on your face just now, it was priceless."

"You're incorrigible!" she yelled, not finding the slightest bit of humor in what he said.

"And I keep telling you, you're sexy when annoyed."

"Can you be serious for one minute?"

"Fine, I didn't want to put something else on you when I could tell how stressed you were just from work."

"I'm more stressed having less time to prepare," she argued.

Hoping to placate her, he explained, "I was bored in Ohio, there's nothing to do in a hotel room, I put most of it together then."

"So my opinion doesn't matter?" she asked sharply.

Logan held in a groan, that did not have the effect he had hoped for, "That's not what I said; I was planning to go over it and finish it with you this weekend…"

"Oh yes, the almighty Logan Huntzberger, doesn't bother to tell anyone else what's going on."

Before she could finish, Logan cut her off, "What is your problem, I'm sorry okay. I was just trying to keep you from a stress overload."

"What about your little meeting with Mike?"

"What about it?"

"I know you were talking about me," she stated.

"Not everything is about you Rory."

"I'm aware, but this was! Don't try and deny it, you two were loud and people overheard."

"So what if I was, I'm his boss I have the right to talk to him about an employee who works under him."

"That's all you think of, what you have the right to! What about me? What about the fact that all of my co-workers think I have to have my fiancé come in and tell my boss to go easy on me."

"Go easy on you? Rory if that's what was going on I wouldn't have been in there. Like I told him, I'd be having the same conversation no matter who the employee was, and if it were any other employee, they would have complained to upper management by now."

"If it were any other employee, would you have even heard about it?" Rory challenged.

"Yes. Rory, this is serious, and I would've had a meeting with Charles or who ever the editor-in-chief was, it's not something I could let continue," Logan said firmly.

Frustrated because he was missing her point, Rory argued, "You can't take something you learn because of the personal relationship we have and use it as an information source for work. That falls under being treated differently, that's not what I want."

"I'm glad to see you have so much faith in me," Logan said sarcastically, hurt that she thought he wouldn't respect her request at the start of this whole thing.

"You went in there to yell at your fiancée's boss because of how he treated her!" she challenged.

"I have every right, I oversee this paper."

"Why didn't Charles talk to him? Isn't that _his_ job, dealing with the editors?"

"I had a meeting with him," Logan yelled, "and he asked me to talk to Mike, thought it would be better since he was overseeing his probation."

"So what?" Rory asked, "That doesn't keep it from looking like you're favoring me."

"You of all people should know I would make sure I treated people fairly!" he yelled.

"Since you've done such a good job of demonstrating that?" she asked sarcastically.

"I grew up having everyone treat me different because of my name: teachers, neighbors, girls…" he listed, his frustration and anger clear.

"Because having girls at your beck and call was such a sacrifice," Rory cut in, knowing it would only anger him further.

"You're acting like I have no idea what you're going through!" he yelled.

"And you think you do?"

"Newsflash Rory, there are people who only think I got my job because of my name, and unlike you, I can't say they're wrong!"

"Logan…" Rory started, her voice softening for the first time since their argument started.

"Save it. You know I hate it, I hate it every time someone treats me like that. Do you really think I'm that hypocritical? That I would do anything to make the situation worse for you?" he yelled, clearly just as upset at her accusation as he was her lack of trust in him.

"But you did!" Rory yelled, forgetting her moment of guilt. She could still hear them talking about it during the meeting.

"I have to do my job Rory!" Logan screamed, but caught a glance at the clock. Running his hands over his face to collect his thoughts for a moment, he said, "I have to go. I have another meeting, and I still need to get there."

"We're not done!" she yelled.

Pissed at everything she had accused him of, he couldn't stop himself from throwing back, "I can't be late for a meeting because I'm too busy arguing with you. That would be favoritism."

--

_**A/N: I want to say we didn't mean to end this chapter with the fight to be cruel or give you a cliffhanger, it's just the way the chapter divisions worked out. We promise it'll be continued at the start of the next chapter (which is that night after work). I know this chapter had a fair amount of the Finn/Bri and Colin/Steph story, but the next chapter will only be focusing on R/L so bare with us (and for you F/B fans out there, how did you like their scenes?). **_

_**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and we apologize for the delay. Please check the blog tomorrow for images and then for updates about the next chapter. Besides that, please let us know what you thought or any questions you have by sending us a review.**_

_**I also want to say thank you to everyone who's been reviewing, we really do love them they give us things to think about. I'm not sure how many people noticed, but the email from ff was not working for a while so we didn't send out as many replies. I just want to say a thanks to those people specifically, I think I definitely got everyone who asked a question, but if you did and didn't get a reply send us a PM. **_


	35. Run Away

--

Logan left the _Observer_ for a lunch meeting before heading back to the _Times_. From there, he headed out to another meeting. When he was finally done, he noticed how close to Columbia he was, and wanting to have time to clear his brain before confronting Rory, he called Colin to meet up for a drink. They didn't talk about the fight, but Logan used the time they were out to relax after a long day and finally think about what had happened between him and Rory.

Logan got home at 6:30 and found their apartment empty. He knew Rory had been working late lately, but he thought that she would have come home so they could talk about their fight. Figuring that she was still at work, he went to their room to change, but before he could, he was surprised by the sight of the shirt Rory wore to work in the hamper. Thinking that he missed seeing her, he walked back to check the study but didn't find her or any sign of where she went. He knew that she was mad, but the fact that he couldn't find her after she had clearly come home was making him worry.

He called her cell phone but there was no answer. He hung up and decided to check the first place he thought she would run, or at least call, Lorelai. After a brief conversation that only served to worry Lorelai, he found out that mother and daughter had not spoken all day. After that, he tried Steph who hadn't talked to her either, then Rory's phone again that went straight to voice mail this time, letting him know it had been turned off.

Eventually, he found Bri's number and called her, but she wasn't answering either. He started to wonder if the two had gone out after work. He went to finally change out of his work clothes, and then not sure what else he could do besides wait, tried to watch TV. He was flipping through the channels, telling himself that she was just out with Bri, but couldn't sit still and before he knew it was up pacing around the room and calling her phone every few minutes.

When his phone rang, he answered almost instantly, "Ace?"

"Sorry Mate," Finn's voice replied.

"Finn, I can't talk right now, I don't know where Rory is."

"I do," Finn said.

That got his attention, "Where, with Bri?"

"No, on my couch."

"I'll be right…"

"No!" Finn shouted, then lowered his voice, "You can't come over yet."

"What? Why not? I need to talk to her."

"I know, but I promised her I wouldn't tell you where she was. I had to wait until I could escape to my room before I could call you."

"So why exactly did you call?"

"To tell you where she was."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?" Logan asked, instantly calmer now that he knew where she was, but still edgy from their unresolved fight.

"I was talking to her, she looked upset."

"Yeah, well, we had a fight," Logan snapped.

"I know," Finn informed him, not wanting to make matters worse.

"Why is she there? Shouldn't she be talking to me about this?" Logan asked, frustrated with not having this resolved.

"She said she got home and you weren't there, and she didn't want to be sitting there waiting when you did."

"She ran away and didn't get any further than across the hall? I made it all the way to Colin's when I ran away. I was eight," Logan rambled.

"I don't think criticizing her ability to run away is really the approach you should take," Finn suggested and added, "Besides, if I were you, I'd be hoping any kids I had would take after her on this one."

"I'm just saying I think she could have at least made it to Steph's," Logan replied seriously.

"Logan, focus!" Finn snapped.

The irony of being told to focus by Finn wasn't lost on him, but he knew he needed to figure this out, "So why didn't she want to be home? Is she that mad?"

"Not as far as I can tell. She said something about not wanting you to think it's all okay," Finn tried.

"What?"

"I think it's girl logic, but I swear, it made sense when Bri said it."

"Bri?"

"Well, I tried to listen to Rory, but she wasn't making any bloody sense," Finn whined.

"So you called Bri."

"Yes, she told me that she knew you two got into a fight today at work, but Rory wouldn't talk about it."

"Really?" Logan asked surprised, usually Rory talked to her friends when she had a lot on her mind.

"Yeah, and for some reason, she decided to talk to me. I didn't know what to do, so I called Bri. She said I should just listen to her, but not to say much unless she calmed down."

"And did she?" Logan asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"No. A few times I thought she was almost there, but then she'd randomly start yelling or crying," Finn explained, still baffled by the normally logical girl being so irrational, "Is she PMSing?"

"Her period shouldn't be for a few more days," Logan replied without thinking.

"Do I need to remind you that the work _pre_ in there," Finn exclaimed, "that explains so much."

Logan rolled his eyes, even though Finn couldn't see him, and returned to the bigger issue, "Is she still mad at me?"

"You should be talking to her," Finn said, uncomfortable with becoming the middle man in this.

"I want to, but you said not to come over. I don't want to start fighting again."

"Just, come and knock on the door, and ask me if I've seen her."

"This is why you were never in charge of covert plans in the Life and Death Brigade," Logan informed him seriously. The plan was lame, but he really wanted to talk to Rory.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No," Logan admitted, "I'll be there in a few minutes. Go back out there so you're with her when I knock."

"Fine," Finn agreed, but didn't think it would make a difference.

"Thanks for calling me Finn."

--

Logan impatiently waited five minutes until he found himself knocking on Finn's door. It took a moment for Finn to answer and say loudly, "Logan, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for Rory, have you seen her?" Logan asked, knowing his voice betrayed the fact that he was aware of the answer.

"Umm," Finn said, he hadn't thought about what he would say when Logan asked.

The boys were saved from trying to figure it out when Rory walked up behind Finn and accused, "You called him!"

Finn turned to her and gave his best sympathetic look, "I knew he'd be worried about you."

Rory turned to look at Logan, who said, "I saw your work clothes so I knew you weren't still at the paper. I was worried. I called your office, your cell, Lorelai, Steph, Bri. I was pacing the apartment when Finn called."

"I'm sorry," Rory sighed, she hadn't meant to make him worry, just didn't want to sit around waiting.

Logan looked at her and knew they had a lot to talk about, "Can we talk at home?"

"Sure," Rory said, then turned to Finn and gave him a hug, "Thanks Finn."

"Anytime, Love," Finn promised her, kissing her cheek as he pulled back.

The couple walked silently across the hall and to the couch. Once they both were seated, Rory was the one to break the silence, "I'm sorry Logan. I really am."

Logan sighed, he knew they both got carried away, but he'd been thinking about what happened all day and still couldn't figure it out.

"What happened today? I mean I know we need to talk about some stuff, but all the yelling, that's not like us," Logan asked. Out of everything that had happened, the yelling was what bothered him the most about their fight.

Rory looked at him, "Besides being upset about what you talked to Mike about?"

"Yeah," Logan said, knowing that they needed to talk about the work situation as well, but for now, he wanted to stay focused on the actual fight.

"I don't know. I mean, I've been so stressed out, and I was mad that you went and talked to Mike. People overheard you, and they were gossiping about it…about you coming to defend me, wondering if you'd been helping me do my work and that's why I got so overloaded when you went out of town…"

"That's ridiculous!" Logan interjected.

Rory laughed for the first time since their fight, "I know, but my point is, hearing them speculate just made me more stressed. Then, you have me stay after and spring on me that I have another workshop to prepare for."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

Rory heard what he said, but just continued talking, "It just all added up until it was too much. You were there, and I was ready to blow…You teased me like you always do, but instead of teasing back, I just lost it."

"I wouldn't have said that if I knew how stressed you were," Logan said, "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah," she admitted, "And at the same time, I feel worse."

"Oh."

"I'm so sorry, I was being so selfish. All I was thinking about was how people saw me, and what they were saying about me. I didn't think about what it's like for you. I know how much you hate it, I do, and it's like I completely forgot. How could I do that?" she asked herself, now on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry for leaving like I did," Logan replied honestly.

"Do-don't b-be. I-I wa-was s-screa-screaming at you, and I-I'm so s-sorry for that…I am. I fe-felt-t horrible all day. I-I'm s-so sorry," she pleaded, tears now streaming down her face.

"I know," Logan assured her, trying to calm her down. Pulling her into a hug, he softly murmured, "Shhh Baby."

"How can you forgive me? I yelled at you!" Rory managed to get out through her sobs that were slowly subsiding. Not giving him a chance to respond, Rory managed to leave Logan's arms and started to work herself up again, "I'm so mad at myself for yelling at you like that. There was all of this crap, and none of it was your fault, but I was yelling at you. I felt horrible: I worked non-stop all day because it was the only thing I could do that kept my mind off how I treated you."

"Sometimes, people just need to yell," he tried to reason.

"But it was-s-sn't your fau-ault," Rory stammered. How sweet he was being even after everything she said had the tears once again pouring out of her eyes, "Y-You do-don't know ho-how sorry I-I am, I ju-just want to g-go bac-back and ma-make it not hap-happen, but I can't. Just, pl-please, let m-me make it up to you. Tell-ll me what to do, and I'll make i-it up to you, ple-please I just want to…"

Knowing she was racked with guilt, Logan cut her off midsentence by wrapping her in another hug. As he held her close, he said, "Rory, it's okay, shhh…it's fine."

"You were so mad," Rory remembered, still crying.

"We both got caught up in the fight. We can't change that, but look, we're here, and we're talking. We both feel bad and wish we hadn't fought. I'm not mad anymore Rory, promise. Now, we just need to get you to stop beating yourself up," he reassured and kissed head, trying to lighten the mood a little.

It seemed like they were enveloped by silence for a long time, but in reality, it was no more than a minute, when Rory said, "I know you would talk to any editor who was doing that."

"I would," Logan affirmed.

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, he was abusing the power of his position, and it needed to stop, but you're welcome."

"Logan," Rory said more timidly than she had been to this point, "we have to figure out how this will work."

"I know," he agreed, "but I have to do my job as well."

"I know," she assured him, then added, "I do, you need to handle the situation the same no matter who the employee is, and logically I'm sure other people know it too"

"But?" Logan prompted.

"I'm not just any employee. When you come in like that, yelling at my boss because of how I'm being treated, all anyone sees is you protecting your fiancée."

"You being my fiancée didn't affect how he was reprimanded, or what I said, or even the meeting I had with Charles…" Logan listed.

Sensing the hesitation in his voice, Rory prodded, "But?"

Looking at her, he confessed, "But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't why I spoke to him in the tone I did, or why I was so angry when I confronted him, or even why it was taking all my self-control not to get revenge."

"Logan," Rory warned, that was not what she had wanted to hear.

"I'm sorry, but I was furious for how he was treating you. I love you, I want to protect you and that includes protecting you from your boss. But I promise, it didn't change what I said, just the passion with which I said it."

"Are you sure?"

"Would it make you feel better if I told you that I presented the information to Charles, but all decisions on how to handle Mike were his?"

"Were they?" Rory asked, avoiding the answer.

"I brought up putting a timeframe on his probation, he picked one month. I also brought up not allowing him to weasel his way out of staying late this week by reassigning work, but Charles agreed."

"Okay, then, yes, that does make me feel better."

"It's true," Logan promised her.

"I'm just not used to this. I mean I worked hard to get into Chilton and then Yale. I worked hard at both schools, people saw how hard I worked, and that was it. I was a nobody, people didn't care what I did, and now people are paying attention and talking about me…and I know they might do the same for you, but…" she was rambling, but cut herself off before she could finish the last thought.

Logan raised an eyebrow and filled in, "But, I've been dealing with it my whole life?"

"Yeah," Rory admitted, "It's just not something I'm used to, it'll take some time before I am."

"You never get used to it," Logan informed her and, seeing her scared face, added, "You may learn to tune it out or learn not to care, but you won't get used to it."

"That doesn't make me feel better," Rory whined in a playful way.

Logan laughed, but turned serious again, "I am sorry if what I did made things worse for you. That's not what I wanted to do, I was just so focused on talking to Mike that I didn't think about how it would look."

"Logan, don't apologize, you were doing your job," Rory said sincerely, but then the couple fell into a silence.

"This doesn't solve anything," Logan sighed.

"I don't want to affect how you do your job, and you don't want cause me problems," Rory surmised.

"Well first, I can try to keep my cool better, yelling loud enough for people to hear our conversation isn't going to help."

"That would help," Rory agreed.

"I also think I should establish a policy that all disciplinary meetings I have, no matter who, will be in their boss's office from now on. That should keep other employees from overhearing, and in Mike's case, will be on another floor entirely so no one can overhear."

"I promise not to let what they say get to me, well as much as I can," Rory offered, not sure what else she could do, and wasn't sure how well she would even do this.

"Can you also promise to inform someone if you're being treated like that again? Remember that you're an employee?" Logan asked.

"I can do that," Rory agreed.

Rory leaned over to kiss Logan and said, "I love you so much, and I'm so sorry."

"I love me too," Logan replied.

"Logan!" Rory yelled, but was laughing as well.

"I love you too, and I'm sorry," Logan replied kissing her again and deepening it.

Still feeling bad for how much she yelled and remembering her earlier promise of making it up to him, she broke the kiss and repeated, "I meant what I said earlier, just tell me what to do to make it up to you, and I'll do it."

"You don't need to do anything," Logan assured her.

"But it would make me feel better. Anything, something, I just want to make it up to you," Rory pleaded, she felt so guilty for what had happened.

"Ace, it's fine," Logan said, kissing her again. As it deepened, Rory straddled his lap and let her hands play with his hair.

They were still kissing when Rory remembered the infamous list he wrote at her birthday. She pulled away, causing him to let out a frustrated groan, and innocently asked, "Not even something from that list you made?"

"Don't tempt me," Logan said seriously, his body already reacting to the possibilities.

"Come on Logan, please," Rory begged, with a playful pout. Logan decided to humor her, not really sure if she was being serious or not, but scoped her up and carried her to their room, dropping her unceremoniously on the bed.

Without a word, he went to his dresser to retrieve the list, and as he did, he thought about what he should say. He was pretty sure she had been suggesting something sexual, but wasn't sure how serious she was about doing it and definitely didn't want to make her feel like she had to now.

As he walked back to the bed, he decided to tease her with some of the more tame things on the list, "So what's it going to be? Watch an entire hockey game or learn to drive a manual transmission?"

"Why are those on the list?"Rory asked shocked, forgetting everything else, she didn't expect something like that to be on there.

"This list is about getting you to do things you wouldn't do on your own," Logan reminded her as he sat down on the bed as well.

"And here, I thought everything on the list would be categorized as sexual or hazardous to my health."

"How little faith you have in me," Logan mocked, "I do not discriminate based on the potential amount of sexual enjoyment."

Rolling her eyes, Rory said, "Well, those are boring. What else?"

"Swim with sharks?" he said, going to the other extreme.

"We're in New York," Rory said frustrated, "Come on be serious."

"What do you want me to say? We're sitting here reading a list."

"I just want to something to make it up to you, I feel guilty."

"Isn't that what we were doing before you interrupted?" Logan asked, as he pulled her closer and she climbed back into his lap.

"But we have sex all the time, I want it to be something different," Rory explained. She let her hands play with the hem of his shirt and hint, "You know were got some things at the shower…"

Logan's mind started thinking and there was only purely sex related gift he could remember. A bit surprised she was hinting at that, he asked, "You'd actually try that?"

"Yeah, I mean, like you said, it's about trust. I trust you, I want you to know how much," she explained remembering what he had said about it.

"I'm just surprised to hear you suggest it, you seemed so against it before."

"I told you I was going to make it up to you," Rory started then, hoping she hadn't misread his interest, added, "and you seemed to like the idea…"

"If you're sure," Logan said, one more time, but now getting excited. When he saw Rory nod, he quickly moved into the closet, returning a moment later, setting what he had retrieved just out of her view.

Logan leaned in for a forceful kiss and anchored his hands on her hips as they became more intense exploring each other's mouth. He skillfully used his tongue and teeth to tease, soothe, suck, and nibble to get Rory worked up. Soon, he felt her start to rock her hips, searching for the contact she wanted. Tightening his grip on her hips he stilled them, but continued his torment.

Rory's hands moved to take off his shirt, and soon, he was doing the same. He was still kissing her when he moved to release the hooks of her bra, letting it fall to the ground. When it did, he surprised her by pulling quickly from their kiss.

She groaned in frustration, but felt him push her back onto the bed just as quickly. She gasped in a pleasurable shock to feel him suddenly bring his mouth to her nipple and begin toying with it much like he had been her lips. Rory couldn't believe how good this was feeling, and unconsciously, her hands started to go to his head to increase the contact.

Logan felt her hands start to move and before she could grab his head, caught her wrists and brought them above her head. Logan looked over her body then picked up the metal handcuffs from the bed. As he closed them on her wrists, he kissed her lips one more time and said, "If you want to stop, tell me."

Rory was surprised that she wasn't more nervous, so smiled and answered simply, "I trust you."

She almost regretted her words when she saw the mischievous grin on Logan's face, but stayed silent and watched as he kissed and licked down her body stopping at her chest and resuming his previous actions. Logan took note of how she was reacting, and after ample attention, he switched to her other breast.

By the time he was done, Rory was sure she was losing her mind, especially when she felt him moving his mouth over her skin, making his way back to her mouth. As he kissed her, she was trying to roll her hips again, but Logan still had a firm hold and kept her still.

He continued to kiss her then pulled her hips lightly indicating she should lift them, allowing him to remove her pants. He discarded them, crawled back up the bed, and kissed her neck then lips, while he propped himself up above her.

He let his fingers play with the elastic on her panties, then trail slowly up her body as he said, "You're so sexy."

Rory gave a blushing smile, causing him to kiss her before starting his slow descent. Once he reached his destination, he settled himself between her legs, letting his fingers tease her opening through the fabric. As he continued his ministrations, he couldn't help but grin as he heard her breathing increase.

Logan kissed the inside of her thigh, running his tongue lightly over her skin, then did the same to her hip and finally stomach. When he reached that destination, he finally moved his hands to remove her panties. Once they were discarded, he turned his attention to her newly exposed flesh.

He was touching her as softly as possible, first with his fingers then with his tongue. When he finally let his tongue pass over her nub, she moaned, "Looooggggaaaan."

"Yes?" he asked innocently.

"Please," she practically begged.

Hearing her so aroused and frustrated made Logan grin, but he hid it well, as he lowered his tongue back to its previous actions. He had barely resumed what he was doing when he was caught off guard by Rory moving her legs in an attempt to force him to give her more. Before she could get them around his head, he sat back causing her to let out a sound of frustration.

Logan shook his head at her, and this time, he made sure to place his hands on her legs to keep them on the bed before resuming his actions. He let his tongue run over her slit before focusing on her nub. He increased the pressure slightly as he circled it, he knew it was not what she wanted, but continued to give his affections.

Rory felt like her body was on fire. She was so turned on yet yearning for more. After a few minutes, she felt him stop causing her to lift her head and see he was only a few inches away. She continued to watch him, and when she saw him move back in, she lifted her hips desperate to get the contact she desired.

Seeing what she tried, Logan pulled back again and let out a small laugh and moved off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Rory asked in a desperate voice.

"Don't worry Ace, I'll be right back," he said and disappeared into the closet, leaving Rory flushed and sprawled on the bed.

When he reappeared, he was twirling a piece of black cloth, Rory warned, "Logan what is that?"

"You know what it is," Logan promised her.

"Why do you have a blindfold?"

"It said handcuffs **AND** a blindfold," he reminded her.

"I know, but…" Rory started, a bit more uncomfortable at the prospect of adding this to their situation.

"I just want you to relax and enjoy yourself," Logan said in a quiet, smooth voice, "That can't happen when you keep doing things."

"Because you keep teasing me," Rory groaned, her frustration showing through.

Logan looked up at her, giving her a challenging look, and purposely toying with the blindfold.

"Fine," Rory said in defeat, she would have agreed to almost anything by this point.

Logan reached up to tie the infamous blindfold into place. Once it was secure, he sat back, looking her over, trying to decide what to do to surprise her. After a moment of consideration, he decided to go for the simple, and bent down to kiss her.

He could tell she was caught off guard and waited a second for her to grasp the situation, then deepened the kiss quickly. As he enjoyed her mouth, he let his hands wander over her body, paying special attention to her breasts. When she let out a deep moan, he slowly ended the kiss and began to move back down her body.

He knew her body had been teased to its breaking point before he added the blindfold and was sure she would quickly be back to that point. He was laving her nipples when he surprised her by thrusting two fingers into her quickly. He felt her hips lift in response before he moved his free hand to still them.

Logan kept his fingers pumping her at a steady tempo while his mouth kept working. He kept his lips on hers for a few minutes before finally descending the rest of the distance down to her heat. He could feel her body shot a small spasm when he gently bit her bud, then suck it between his lips.

Her body continued to be worked up by his ministrations, until he felt the first signs of her pleasure. He increased his suctions and the tempo his fingers had found and soon was rewarded by her screaming his name and rolling her hips against his hand.

He kept going through her entire release, but once it was subsiding, he pulled back, quickly shed his boxers, and grabbed a condom. Before Rory had time to even begin to recover, Logan was back on the bed between her leg, attacking her lips and thrusting into her.

At the sensation, she let out a surprised shriek and had just wrapped her legs around his waist when he started a quick pace. Logan kept kissing her frantically and moving one hand down to play with her breast.

"Oh god," Rory squealed and tried hard to keep up with him.

Logan took this as encouragement and started to move faster and deeper while whispering in her ear, "You feel so fucking good Rory."

The couple continued moving at their frantic pace, until Logan felt her second wave coming. When he did, he moved with even more force, hoping to find his own release as well. Moments later, he felt Rory begin to fall, gripping him tighter with her legs and moaning loudly. Feeling her contract around him even tighter had him thrusting a few more times before following close behind.

Logan had just enough sense to remember to reach up and undo the handcuffs, before rolling over and taking Rory with him. Once on his back, he reached up and pushed the blindfold off her face as well.

He saw her blink a few times, obviously trying to get her eyes back into focus, and when she did, he could see her embarrassment starting to set in as she broke eye contact.

Hoping to ease some of that, Logan confessed, "You know, I've never done this before."

"Really?" Rory asked, very surprised, but looking back at him before she could stop herself.

"Yes really," Logan assured her, not missing the hopeful look in her eyes.

"Why not?" Rory asked, now truly curious.

"I may have had sex in all sorts of places, but it never got this…" Logan explained then paused while he searched for the right word, "experimental. That would have made it too personal, it was casual sex, and I never wanted to cross that line."

"So why'd you out it on the list?" Rory questioned, she had thought it was something he enjoyed in the past.

"I put it there just as much for you as I did for me, I've always been curious," Logan admitted.

"I'm glad you were," Rory said quietly, then brought her hand to his face to give him a soft kiss.

Logan could tell she was more comfortable with it now so dared to ask, "So you liked it?"

"It was weird at first, but once I got used to it…amazing," she admitted.

Logan looked at her, "So we're okay, right?"

"Yeah," Rory promised, resting her head against his chest. After a few minutes of a very content silence, she complained, "I'm hungry."

Logan laughed and said, "Let me go get cleaned up, and then I'll order us some food."

"Chinese?" Rory asked.

"Sure."

"With Crab Rangoon?" she asked.

"If you want some."

"And egg rolls?"

"I know Ace," Logan promised as he rolled her back onto the bed, "I've ordered Chinese for you many times."

"And extra fortune cookies?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes," he said in a playful sigh, then kissed her before standing up and saying, "Now, I'll be out in a minute, you wait there."

"But I need to make coffee," she replied.

Logan smirked at her, "I'll make it when I'm done and bring it to you. You just stay put exactly like you are."

"You're going to serve me in bed?" she teased.

"If you promise to not get dressed, I'll bring you anything you want for the rest of the night," he said seriously. He had enjoyed being so intimate with her after the fight and didn't want to loose that closeness by leaving their bed.

Rory for her part just grinned and replied, "So that's the big secret? All I have to do is let you use handcuffs and stay naked afterwards? I can do that…"

Logan just shook his head and muttered, "Why do I put up with you?"

From the bedroom, he heard Rory yell, "Because you **looooooooove** me!"

--

Thursday, Rory went into work, hoping to not be interrupted much. She left earlier than she probably should have the day before because of her fight with Logan meaning that she either needed to work faster or she was doomed for a late night.

A little after she got there, she went for yet another refill of coffee. When she entered the breakroom, she saw Julie starting a new pot of coffee.

Rory was about to leave and just come back later, when Julie said, "Hi."

"Hi," Rory said awkwardly.

"So…" Julie started, but was cut off.

"Whatever you want to ask, just ask it," Rory said, not really in the mood to waste time playing games.

"That was quite the fight yesterday," Julie commented.

"I was stressed and taken by surprised, nothing more. Don't worry, you can go tell everyone that all is well in paradise, I know they must be curious," Rory said dryly.

Julie was a bit taken aback by how straight forward Rory was being, but didn't say much more. After the coffee pot finished percolating, she gestured for Rory to take the first cup. Once she left, Julie filled her own mug. Then, she went to find someone to tell.

The first person she found was Sam. Excited to be able to share the gossip, she exclaimed, "Guess what I just found out?"

"Someone has a STD?" he asked sarcastically.

"No!" she yelled, but with a playful eye roll, "Rory came into the break room for coffee."

"And this is news how?" he asked. Rory may not have been close to many people in the department, but it was still well known that the girl drank a lot of coffee.

Ignoring him, Julie continued telling him what was said in their brief exchange.

"So? They made up, what's the big deal?" Sam asked.

"_All is well in paradise_," Julie repeated from the conversation, "That sounds sarcastic, maybe Alison was right."

"About what?"

"It being arranged."

"We already talked about that, what about those pictures of them together?"

"They could be acting," Julie reasoned.

"When is this going to get old?" he asked.

"There just has to be something else going on! And what about wanting to know if he's been helping her with her articles? It's not like anything else exciting is going on around here; besides, we're a newspaper, this is what we do," Julie said, then chided, "You may be more subtle, but you gossip as much as the rest of us."

"Point?" he asked, knowing he couldn't dispute her last point.

"We need to get more information on them," she said seriously.

"I'm not stalking my boss."

"I know that," she huffed, "But what about the conference?"

"What about it?"

"It would give us a chance to see her talk about journalism, see what she really knows. She's giving a workshop with someone from the _Times_. Plus, she's bound to interact with Logan occasionally, and if nothing else, they have a workshop together."

Sam hadn't thought about that, "So what do you want me to do?"

"Spread the work for people to keep an eye out for her while they're there. See if anything seems off between them, observe her workshops and see how she handles herself, those types of things, anything to help us figure this out," Julie explained.

"Will do," Sam said, before walking off.

--

Rory worked all day, never fully taking a lunch break, just eating while she worked, but she was still deeply entrenched in her articles at 5. She kept working, noticing her co-workers slowly filter out, but maintained her focus on her work. The next time she glanced at the clock it was almost seven. She looked around and saw that the office was empty except for the light that was on in Mike's office. Part of her felt bad, he really wasn't helping anything by staying, but it was motivation to be fair in the future. She knew she couldn't say anything without undermining Logan, not something she wanted to do, and she enjoyed this small amount of revenge.

Rory went back to work, and didn't stop until she heard Mike ask, "Are you done yet?"

"No," Rory said annoyed with how mad he seemed about it – he was the one who gave her so much work.

"When will you be leaving?"

"I don't know," she replied.

"Well, how much more work do you have?"

Rory glanced at the clock and saw it was almost seven forty five now, "I need to finish this article, which I'm almost done with, and get part of my next one written."

"So how long will that take?" he asked, getting impatient.

"Longer than it would if you didn't ask me so many questions," Rory snapped, wanting to go home as much as Mike did.

With that, Mike went back to his office leaving Rory to her work. It was more than a half an hour later that Rory was brought out of her thoughts by the elevator opening. She half expected to see Mike leaving, but instead, she was surprised to see Logan entering.

He walked up to Rory's desk and handed her a large coffee.

Rory took a long drink, "My hero!" then kissed him in greeting.

"I've come to drag you home."

"Logan, I still have a lot to do."

"Ace, I'm sure your articles are fine, and you'll have plenty of time tomorrow to finish."

Rory looked around her desk thinking about what she had left to do, "Ten more minutes."

Rolling his eyes, Logan decided to let her work for that much longer, but no more, and conceded by asking nonchalantly, "Is Mike still here?"

"In his office," she replied.

"Right, well then, I'll be back," Logan announced and walked towards the office. He knocked, and when he was told to enter, he did so, "I see you're still here."

"I wasn't under the impression I had a choice."

"Correct," Logan said, "You can choose to believe me or not, but you were out of line, it didn't matter who the employee was."

"With all due respect sir," Mike said, his fatigue and annoyance for still being at work coming through, "while that may be true, if it were any other employee you wouldn't be here right now."

"Maybe, but someone would be checking in on you."

"Is there anything else?" Mike asked.

"Realize that if it weren't for me, she'd be staying for at least another hour," Logan said, and as he moved to leave, added, "Rory will be leaving in a few minutes, you can go whenever you want."

Logan walked out, and while he was waiting for Rory to finish up, he saw Mike quietly leave his office. Shortly afterwards, he was leading Rory out of the building for what he hoped was her last late night.

--

Saturday morning came and after Rory went to her OBGYN appointment, she headed to the _Times _to meet with Heather. The two women were working on some final edits to their presentation portion of the workshop.

"Is there anything else we can add?" Heather asked, having just looked through their presentation.

"Not that I can think of, but I think we should have some examples ready."

"For what?"

"For the group discussion, when we have the group brainstorming."

"That's a good idea."

"Yeah…I've just been in a lot of different workshops, and sometimes, there are people ready to jump up and give a ton of ideas, but other times people are a bit reserved at first. It'll just keep things moving if we had some ideas ready if that happens."

"We can do that, you take the first topic, I'll take the second?"

"Sounds good."

"You know, I heard things have been kind of crazy for you over at the _Observer_."

"That's one way to put it."

Heather gave a light laugh, "I just thought you should know that I'm impressed by your work. Not just your articles, which are good, but working on this with me as well. It's hard to believe you've only been out of school for six months."

"Thanks," Rory said sincerely.

As they were finishing up, they started to get side tracked.

"So how was the shower?" Heather asked, remembering that Rory hadn't been available to meet last weekend because she and Logan were going out of town for their wedding shower.

"It was good," Rory replied, "A bit crazy, but it always is with that crowd."

"How are the wedding plans coming?" Heather asked, remembering how crazy everything was leading up to her own wedding.

"Okay, I mean, I think we have everything figured out, and my mom has been really helpful. Plus, she's dealt with this before at the inn, so she's good at it."

"That would help," Heather commented, then asked, "So are you nervous at all?"

"No, not really," Rory answered. "Not right now anyways, I think I will be when it gets closer. Were you?"

Heather gave a small laugh, "Yes, but not about getting married."

"Then what?" Rory asked confused.

"That my niece, our flower girl, would get distracted before she made it down the aisle," the woman said seriously.

Rory laughed, "Well, we don't have one of those, anything else?"

"That my father would embarrass me while dancing."

"I guess that's not impossible, but I'm more worried about my neighbors," Rory said truthfully, the image of a dancing Kirk making her shutter.

"You know, you'll have a big responsibility," Heather teased.

"What?" Rory asked confused.

"You know being married to the boss," she said seriously, but giving Rory a meaningful look at the end.

"Heather!" Rory exclaimed, embarrassed by the implications.

"What? Dan and I don't want to get yelled at!" she defended, "He dropped by in a really bad mood Wednesday, and in the 30 minutes he was here, he found a way to take it out on us. Then _miraculously _on Thursday, he comes in, and he's probably in the best mood I've ever seen him in."

"And?" Rory asked, trying not to blush as she remembered her fight with Logan and their subsequent make-up.

"Well…" Heather said slowly, then took on a teasing tone, "We were hoping you could make sure that whatever happened to cause his drastic turn around could be repeated at opportune times."

"And those would be?" Rory couldn't help asking.

"The night before we have performance reviews," she joked, "or better yet, just before he sets our salaries."

Rory could hear the playfulness in her voice, so playing along, she replied, "I'll see what I can do."

After that, they decided to talk through their workshop one more time before calling it a day. Rory went home, where she and Logan still had to work on the presentation they were doing together. As much as she wanted a break from work, she knew that if they could finish most of it today, it would mean that she could just relax all day tomorrow.

They were working when Rory randomly said, "Heather said something that got me thinking."

"What's that?" Logan asked. He wasn't sure what it was, but something about her voice made him think this was something big.

"She was making the title slide and put _Ella Danes_."

"And?" Logan asked confused.

"I wasn't sure if I should use that or Rory."

"Why wouldn't you use Ella? I mean your professional career is based on that name."

"I know. I guess there are a lot of things that I didn't think about when I made the choice to not use my real name."

"So you want to stop using a penname?" Logan asked, not sure what else she meant.

"No. I can go as Rory Gilmore and be introduced as your fiancée," she explained. "I can say my major in college was journalism, and I write for a Huntzberger paper but use a penname."

"Yes you can, but how is that any different than just giving up on the penname?" Logan asked, wanting to make sure she had thought about this.

"I'm not going to tell anyone what my penname is, but I know some people will find out. I mean, I was already introduced to writers at the _Times_ as your fiancée, any one of them could recognize me.

"When I thought to use a penname, one of the main reasons was so that the people I worked with didn't judge me right away. Well, they know now, so that doesn't apply. The other part was me worried about my reputation in the journalism world, but a lot of them don't care. But you know what I didn't realize then? How many people would care I was your fiancée. I got a few angry emails on my Yale account when the announcement was made. I don't want anything from that to be carried over to my job, and I don't want people to see my byline and think, 'oh Logan's wife.' They would either consider my writing a joke or hate it before they ever gave it a chance.

"But that's not the biggest thing," she said almost embarrassed.

"No?" Logan asked, wondering what else there could be.

"It's just that I'll be at the dinner with you, and I'm doing a workshop with you…" she said shyly.

"And?"

"If people think I'm just _Ella_, a writer from Huntzberger Media, that's going to look weird. People may start wondering if we were having an affair, wondering if the reason that I got hired was because I was sleeping with you," Rory pointed out, then looked away, "If they did that, they'd think you were cheating on me.'"

"Rory," Logan said softly, reaching out to her.

"It was hard enough when a few people in the office thought you were cheating on me, but I knew they were making something out of nothing, that they were searching for any gossip, so I could just ignore it," she admitted and looked at him to say, "but this is so many more people. I mean, at first it's the journalists at the conference and then what? Hartford? Logan, I couldn't take all the whispers, all those people saying that you were cheating on me."

"It's just gossip," he assured her.

"I know, but it's something I could avoid this way."

"You know that gossip may be spread anyway," he said carefully, "I would never cheat on you, but you know my dad's reputation."

"I know Logan, I do. And I trust you, but why make it worse?" she asked rhetorically, "But that's just half of it."

"Okay, what's the other half?" he asked, not sure what else there could possibly be.

"I didn't want to use my real name because I didn't want anyone to think I was 'sleeping my way to the top.' If I use _Ella_ and people start wondering about the nature her relationship with you, they may think she 'slept her way to the top.' That defeats the point of using a penname."

"But people at work know you're my fiancée," he pointed out.

"I know, but not everyone knows that. Besides the idea of the penname was that it wouldn't be connected to you, and you asked me yesterday if I would sit with you at dinner."

"Which you don't have to," Logan reminded her.

"I know, but I wasn't to. And if I say I'm _Ella_, how will that look? The two Huntzbergers, three contest winners, and a random rookie reporter? Come on, everyone would wonder why I'm there and being able to say, 'I'm his fiancée,' would make it so much easier. Being connected to you through a scandal would be worse than being connected legitimately."

"I agree with you, but you're getting into a lot of hypothetical's," he pointed out, "A million different scenarios could happen, you'll never be able to prepare for them all."

"I know, but I just think that doing this conference as Rory is what I should do."

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Okay, then I'll have the changes made to the convention information."

--

Wednesday finally arrived, and Rory was heading over to the conference to meet Heather before their workshop began.

Rory navigated the hotel's conference center, eventually finding the right room. When she did, she saw Heather already there and greeted, "Hi Heather."

"Hey Rory, are you ready for this?"

"A bit nervous to be on this side of things, but I'm sure it will be fine."

"Of course it will, it'll be great," Heather said confidently. They walked into the room and started getting everything set up. Soon, students were walking in and taking seats around the room.

Once they were settled, Heather said, "Before we begin, I'm Heather Williams, the City Editor at the _New York Times_, and this is Rory Gilmore, another writer for _Huntzberger Media_," remembering the introduction Rory had requested.

Rory let her eyes scan the room as she said, "Our workshop today is on covering local news…" Stopping sharply, Rory was surprised to see Danielle in the back of the room, but quickly recovered, "To start, we'll be talking about tactics we use…"

--

Danielle sat in the back listening as Rory and Heather alternated talking on various aspects of reporting local news. It wasn't anything she didn't know, but conceded that they were doing a good job of presenting it in a clear, but interesting manner.

Soon, she heard Rory speaking again, "The thing to keep in mind when covering local news is that this is something that is happening in your readers' community. It could be something that impacts their life or someone they know. Because of this, many times you will find for the bigger stories, you will want to run both the main news piece, but also a few complimentary articles."

From there, Heather picked up the speech, "For instance, if there is a string of house robberies going through the area, your main article will give the facts of the case, but does anyone have ideas for another article to go with it?"

Heather noticed that the room fell silent, and after waiting for someone to say something, she heard Rory suggest, "You could have a side article about ways people can protect themselves."

This suggestion got people thinking and soon, a girl in the back timidly raised her hand and spoke, "What to do if you see something suspicious in your neighborhood."

Once she said that, a boy blurted out, ""What to do if your home was broken into…"

As the groups started throwing out more suggestions, Danielle saw the time and quietly left the room.

--

Once the workshop was over, Rory headed home to work on her articles. This week, Rory had only been given two articles. At first, she was worried that Mike was now taking things to the other extreme, but he explained that the people who were spending more time at the conference had a lighter work load and then talked about being a team and needing some people to pick up the slack this week. He also said that he was able to bank three articles for this week's issue from the articles written last week, one of Rory's being among them. That made Rory happy since she that counted as her third article for this week, and she would only need to make sure no information had to be updated, but besides that, the article was already done.

She worked for a few hours, managing to finish a draft for her first article and the research for the second before leaving. She needed to go home, shower, change then head back to the conference for the banquet dinner.

On her way back, she had called Logan, who said that he was about to sit in with his Dad on a conference call and wasn't sure how long it would take, so they would meet her at the table. Rory looked around the room before making her way up to the front to find her table.

She saw there was one guy currently sitting there, and when she took a seat across from him, he said, "Hi, I'm Brandon."

"Rory," she said simply. Logan had told her that they would be sitting with three students who won the essay contest open to anyone attending the conference. Winners were selected from nine different regions across the United States. From there, the top three nationally were selected, and they had all of their expenses for trip to the conference and their accommodations paid for by _HM_ and got to sit with Mitchum and Logan at the dinner. The other six students not selected as one of the top three had their registration fees paid. All nine students received a certificate and were acknowledged at the banquet.

"So, Rory," he said smoothly, "What school are you from?" Before she could answer, he was saying, "No, let me guess…Northwestern?"

"No," Rory said, becoming amused by his behavior.

"Well, I'm from Brown, so I know you can't be from this area," he explained out loud, "Wisconsin?"

"No," she answered and added, "Why are you so sure I'm from the Midwest?"

"Natural beauties like you always are," he said smoothly giving her a wink, sure she was teasing him because he was right.

Rory barely kept from laughing out loud at how cheesy the line was, and managed to say, "I'm definitely not from the Midwest."

Frowning slightly at his error, he thought, and then regaining his confidence, recovered with, "Berkeley? California women are beautiful, and you're obviously intelligent."

Rory shook her head, "Give up?"

"Nope," he said cockily.

"Suit yourself," Rory said, not sure what else to say to the kid.

"Maybe we could meet up later, get to know each other. Then, you could tell me where you're from," he offered, still thinking that being evasive was her way of flirting.

"Uh…"

"What are you doing?" a voice asked in shock.

"I'm Brandon," Brandon offered to the guy who just walked up to the table.

"Ryan," he replied and, as he took the seat next to Brandon, asked, "Rory right?"

"Right," Rory agreed, a bit confused that he knew her name.

"You two already met?" Brandon asked, curious how they knew each other.

"No, but I knew who she was from the workshop earlier," Ryan stated, wondering if this Brandon guy realized she was a writer, but not really wanting to give it away because this could be entertaining.

Not really listening, Brandon leaned in and whispered, "I was here first man," then a bit louder turned to Rory to ask, "Are you staying here? I'm in room 1134."

"No, not staying here," she said with a bit of amusement in her voice.

"What hotel are you at? I can come meet you if you want," he offered.

Rory was having fun toying with him, so she was trying to think how to respond without giving too much away, when she saw another girl join their table.

Ryan, by this point, was trying not to laugh at Brandon's attempt to flirt with Rory. His suspicions were confirmed that Brandon didn't realize that Rory was a writer, not a student. Now, he was just watching, waiting for the information to be revealed. While she was distracted with her exchange with this Brandon guy, he took a moment to study her closer. True, she was young, and undeniably beautiful, but she didn't look like a college freshman, that was for sure. Physically, there wasn't much of a difference between her and the girls his age, it was more the way she carried herself, it showed her maturity. He was still looking at her, when he saw her eyes drift, and looked to see what was there. When he did he saw a girl who had long, dirty blonde hair and cute glasses, and said, "Hi?"

As she went to sit down to Rory's right, she quietly replied, "Hi."

Rory didn't want to give away who she was quite yet, but couldn't help saying, "Shouldn't you leave two seats together for the Huntzberger's?"

"Oh," Melissa said quickly, stopping herself before she was fully sitting. Looking embarrassed by her error, she quickly went to sit on Rory's other side, in a seat between her and Ryan.

As she sat down, Brandon asked, "Who are you?"

"Melissa," she said simply.

"Are you sure you're sitting here?" he questioned.

Melissa looked down at her name card, then at the table number and said, "Yes."

Ryan realized that Brandon thought the three winners were already there, but he knew Melissa was the third so he started another round of introductions, "I'm Ryan from UC-Davis."

The girl, who already looked slightly timid, replied, "I'm Melissa, Northwestern University."

"Brandon, Brown University," Brandon said. He shot Rory a 'see what I meant,' look, and added, "Nice to meet you. This is Rory, although she won't tell me what school she is from."

"Hi," Rory said, wanting to give the girl an encouraging smile.

"Hi," she replied, but gave a small smile back.

"Nervous?" Rory asked her.

"About what?" Brandon asked, trying to regain Rory's attention.

"We're sharing a table with Mitchum and Logan Huntzberger!" Melissa exclaimed in a hushed voice.

"I know," he said calmly.

"And you're not nervous? They're big!" she said, moving her hands while she talked.

"They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else," he dismissed, but inside he was just as nervous as Melissa was.

"Just take a few deep breaths," Rory told Melissa. "Be yourself, and it'll be fine, I promise."

Melissa nodded silently and tried to follow her instructions by taking a deep breath. Feeling the most comfortable around Rory, she rambled, "You know I googled them before I came. Mitchum is the second child and oldest boy, he has two sisters and one brother. Mitchum has two children, Honor and Logan. Logan runs the New York papers, will one day be taking over the company, and is getting married next month.

"Do you think any of his siblings or his daughter are involved in the company as well?" Melissa wondered out loud, as she thought more about the family.

"His brother is the CFO, and his younger sister's husband is on their legal team," Rory answered.

Melissa looked wide-eyed at Rory, "How did you know that? That wasn't on the internet! Have you met them before?"

"I have," Rory said being honest, but choosing to ignore the first question she asked.

Brandon seemed annoyed to hear this and assumed she was trying to make herself sound more important than she was so spat, "So what, you've been introduced, have you ever even talked to them?"

"Once or twice," she replied with a smirk. She caught his gaze with her own and held it until she heard Melissa gasp. She glanced to see Ryan leaning in close to her, whispering in her ear. Assuming it was about her being a writer for _HM_, she turned her full focus back to Brandon.

Rory was still thinking of what else she could say to Brandon when she saw him reflexively sit up straighter in his chair. Curious about what caused him to react like that, she turned around to see Mitchum and Logan approaching the table. Smirking, she turned back towards Brandon and was pleased to see that a slightly panicked look was now crossing his features.

She kept her eyes focused on the students as the men walked up to the two remaining chairs, Logan of course taking the one next to her, and exchanged brief introductions before sitting.

Once they were seated, Mitchum asked the students, "How has the conference been so far?"

Logan made some small talk with the winners and his father as they answered, but as Mitchum took over more of the conversation, he took a moment to turn to Rory and say in a soft voice, "You look beautiful as always, Ace."

"Thanks," she said with only mild embarrassment, glad that no one seemed to be listening to what they were saying. "Did your meeting go well?"

"Yeah, it was just a routine status meeting for my Dad with one of his chief editors, but he thought it'd be good for me to sit in on it. It's different dealing with the papers that are further away, this one is out west, which is why the call was later."

"Makes sense," Rory said with a nod, "I was just curious."

"Did you get your article done?" Logan asked.

"I finished the draft for one."

Logan glanced around the table, making sure that Mitchum wasn't sending him glares yet, but he saw that his father was explaining different aspects of his job to Ryan. He continued to look around the table and was surprised to see the guy who introduced himself as Brandon looking in their direction. With one look at the guy's face, it was clear to Logan that he was thinking about being _more than friends_ with Rory.

Wondering if anything happened before he arrived, he asked Rory quietly, "I see you have a fan club?"

"What?" Rory asked confused, not noticing where he had looked.

Logan kept watching Brandon out of the corner of his eye and saw they now had his full attention. Although Logan knew Brandon wasn't in any way a threat, he couldn't help but want to give him a little show. Logan leaned in closer, much closer than what was considered a friendly distance, and brushed his lips softly across her cheek so he could whisper in her ear, "Across from you, Brandon, I believe, is checking you out."

Rory let out a small laugh when she felt his lips and breath tickle her ear, and when he was done talking, she playfully hit his arm, then turned her head enough to whisper in his ear, "Worried?"

Logan kissed her cheek and said, "Never," then pulled back into his own space shooting Brandon a confident look.

Mitchum was listening patiently to Melissa explain something, but took note of both the exchange between Rory and Logan and the rather heated looks Brandon had been giving them. He also noticed the look Logan gave Brandon, before he looked at him with an innocent smile, before smoothly rejoining the conversation.

As that happened, Brandon, who did not like how Logan was behaving around Rory, thought about what he could do to break up their obvious flirting. He waited until there was a pause in the discussion before casually saying, "Mr. Huntzberger, I don't believe you've be introduced to Rory yet."

Mitchum couldn't believe this kid had the audacity to presume who he did or did not know. It's not like Rory came here as this kid's date, and the fact that he had the nerve to make the introduction irked Mitchum. Looking straight at Brandon asked, "Rory huh? No last name with that?"

"No Sir, she didn't provide one," Brandon quickly replied, smart enough to sense the irritation in the man's voice, "I believe she's an additional contest winner."

Amused by his response, he turned to Rory and teased, "Rory, I had no idea you were still in school."

Able to see his playful tone, she answered, "I never said I was Mitchum, he just assumed, and I didn't bother to correct him."

Turning back to Brandon, Mitchum took on an authoritative voice, "I've meet Rory, many times thank you. Logan and I are very aware of who she is."

"So you're not a contest winner?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"No," Rory said.

"How do you know the Huntzberger's?" he asked, hoping to get more information.

"She works for them, you idiot," Ryan informed him, not able to suppress his laughter while he talked and gave Melissa a quick glance, who immediately started laughing as well.

"While that's true, it's not how I first met her," Mitchum corrected.

"No?" Ryan asked, becoming confused as well.

Logan heard the comment Ryan made and couldn't help smiling at the confused looks now gracing both their faces. Knowing it would only get better, he gestured to Rory and said, "I'd like you to met my fiancée Rory,"

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore?" Melissa asked, remembering the information she had found during her research.

"Yes," Rory confirmed a bit shocked by how much she knew.

"Sorry," she said quickly, "I saw you mentioned in some of the research I did."

Logan held in a laugh, and leaning over to Rory, he whispered in a voice that was loud enough for the whole table to hear, "She's a mini-you."

"Logan!" Rory exclaimed and told Melissa, "Ignore him."

Melissa seemed overwhelmed by the attention, but before Rory could say anything else to her, Logan said, "Why are you hitting me? I didn't mean that as a bad thing!"

Rory gestured across the table, "You're scaring her."

"I didn't mean to," Logan defended.

Rory looked at Melissa and said, "I was always doing research before I went places in college, specifically before I met Mitchum for the first time, I swear he didn't mean anything by it."

The girl nodded while she seemed to debate a question briefly in her mind, but still asked, "It said you were the editor at Yale's paper, why haven't you written anything since graduating?"

Pleasantly surprised to be asked the question, Rory replied, "I've been writing under a penname."

"And inciting a ruckus among my staff," Mitchum added, teasing Rory about the gossip surrounding her and making the students chuckle.

Not wanting the conversation to get too sidetracked, Mitchum asked, "What presentations do you think you will be attending tomorrow?"

The table talked while drinks and dinner were served until Mitchum saw that it was time for him to give his keynote address.

Mitchum walked up to the podium, welcomed everyone to the conference and thanked everyone who was helping run it. He then took a moment to acknowledge the 9 regional contest finalists, then the 3 overall winners, by presenting them with certificates.

Once that was done, he began his address. "As you develop your writing, it is important to remember how critical primary sources are in reporting. They add a depth to an article you cannot get through any other means. As I talk about different ways they can be used, I will be showing examples from a journalist as their writing developed from high school, to college, and now to professional levels.

"This first piece," he continued and flipped the PowerPoint slide, "was an early high school piece about repaving the school parking lot."

Rory almost screamed when she realized it was her articles that were being shown. Turning to Logan, she whispered "Where did he get that?"

"I honestly don't know. When I talked to him last week and he told me what he was giving a talk on, I asked what writing samples he was going to use."

"You knew!"

"No. He didn't really answer me. I figured they'd be mine or his, there aren't many people who he would have access to their high school articles."

"So how did he get mine?" she asked.

"I don't know, I swear!"

"I can't believe he's showing them to everyone," she said, now embarrassed.

Wanting to relax her, he teased, "But I'm sure you learned a lot about cement."

Rolling her eyes, she couldn't stop herself from shooting back, "Not as much as I did when I had to do an article about the Concrete Canoe Team."

"The what?" Logan asked confused.

"The Concrete Canoe Team."

"What do they do?"

"Build a canoe out of concrete," she said in an obvious tone.

"Why?" Logan asked still not following.

"Because they can," Rory responded sarcastically.

"But why?"

"And do you know what I learned," she asked rhetorically, switching back to her original train of thought, "Concrete and cement aren't the same thing."

"Is that so," he teased.

"And don't get them confused, or they will let you have it," she ranted, remembering her mistake.

"What's the difference?"

"Concrete is in cement or the other way around, I forget which…" she said offhandedly, "like all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares."

Still confused, but seeing why she was annoyed with the interview, he conceded, "I get your point, but what does that have to do with your parking lot article?"

"Nothing, but you asked about cement."

"Ah," he replied, "well, forget I asked."

"Don't worry, I will."

The couple sat quietly as Mitchum continued talking and showing portions of articles, pointing out spots where a primary source would have been useful and also examples of where they were used well.

Rory looked around the room and saw how enamored the students were. She knew she had been like them, but now, she was just impressed by Mitchum's success in the business, and found it interesting to watch how people responded to him. She looked around the table and could see that Melissa was making a mental recording of everything he said, Brandon was trying not to be impressed, but obviously was, and Ryan was just taking it all in. One thing she did see was that everyone was hanging onto Mitchum's every word.

She was doing her best to avoid looking at her articles that she could still see on the screen. Eventually, she realized he was almost done because she heard him say, "…And with hard work and dedication, you too can join the ranks of professional journalists," and showed a paragraph from one of her articles she had written for the _Observer_.

Mitchum never made any indication as to where he got the articles he was using for examples, but regardless, she was blushing profusely hearing the compliments he gave her. Since the engagement, he had told her that he was impressed by her writing, and while it was nice to hear, a part of her wondered how truthful he was being. She couldn't help but ask herself if he really meant it or was saying it to try to keep the peace.

When he used her writing as his examples for his speech in front of all these people, she knew that he meant every word. True, he had both complimented and critiqued her writing, but some of the articles were more than a few years old, and she was aware that her writing had improved over the years. Still, even in the oldest articles, he showed there were good points, something she was proud of.

Rory had been surprised to see her articles, but was still able to recognize it, as much by the topic as by the style, almost immediately. At first, she wondered why he wasn't using something Logan wrote, but quickly came up with two problems with that: One, Logan probably didn't write that much in high school, and he didn't have much at Yale before his senior year, making the number of examples scarce, and two, people would more likely realize that he wrote them, and it wouldn't help the company any for Mitchum to be publicly critiquing the future CEO's talent. In the end, Rory decided it didn't matter what made him choose to use her articles, just that she felt like she truly knew what he thought of her writing and couldn't help but smile at that realization.

Rory was torn from her thoughts as she stood with the others to applaud at the conclusion of his speech and watched as he eventually made his way back to their table.

Sitting down, he asked, "What did you think?"

"They were quite good for the time they were written. Like you pointed out, some things to be worked on, but a clear talent was there. I'm not surprised they write professionally now," Melissa commented thoughtfully.

Mitchum smiled, "Luckily for me, they now work at one of my papers."

Ryan casually said, "I thought it may have been your own writing Mr. Huntzberger, or your son's."

"Neither of ours," Logan said, and turned to Rory, "I'm sure who ever wrote it was more than happy to supply the portfolio."

The college students were silent, not sure what to say, but when Rory saw Logan smirking, she knew he was trying to bait her. She tried to ignore his comment, but curiosity got the best of her, and she blurted out, "Where did you get my articles!"

Giving her the same smirk that was currently plastered on his son's face, he answered, "I remember Richard always mentioning his granddaughter, the aspiring journalist, and proudly telling me that he was saving all the articles she'd written. So when I was working on this speech and needed examples, I put that information to use. I simply told Richard I was interested in reading more of your articles, and he was more than happy to make me copies."

"That was so nice of him," she replied sarcastically.

"I thought so," Mitchum said sincerely, ignoring her tone, "and when I read them, I couldn't help but notice how well they'd work for this."

"I'm sure," she said dryly.

"Those were yours?" Ryan asked.

"Um, yeah," Rory answered, a bit embarrassed.

"Melissa was right, they were good. I'm impressed," he told her.

"Thanks," Rory said, but squeezed Logan's had, making it clear she wanted him to change the topic.

Logan took the hint and asked, "So…what kind of writing do you all prefer to do for your college papers?"

The group talked for a while longer until Mitchum excused them by saying there were a few people they needed to talk to before they left for the night.

--

Friday morning came, and it was time for Rory's and Logan's workshop. Rory, for her part, was much calmer now that she had successfully completed her workshop with Heather and had a productive luncheon the day before.

She quietly set up the room while Logan hooked up his laptop to the projection equipment. Soon, she heard the familiar sound of students walking into the room and finding their seats. When Rory looked up, she noticed a conspicuously large number of girls crammed into the front looking rather eager. Once she got past her initial surprise, she noted that apparently Logan's popularity with college girls didn't diminish despite no longer being in college.

She also saw that the room was very full. While she would be the first to admit this was one of the most relevant workshops going on, she knew part of the high numbers were due to curiosity about the Huntzberger heir.

Before either of them could speak some whispers started in various parts of the room and, a girl in the front asked, "Mr. Huntzberger, is it true that you spend time working closely with you employees?"

Rory's jaw almost dropped at the question, while it could be a very legitimate one, the suggestive tone in the girl's voice left no doubt about her double meaning.

"I find I can make the best improvements when I have a better understanding for how a particular department or paper runs. I get that by spending time there," Logan said simply hoping to not leave anyone with the idea there was something more going on.

"Really?" she asked, but Rory noticed how she had leaned forward on the table to make her cleavage much more obvious. Rory also saw Brandon in the room, who was currently gesturing towards her and whispering to the people around him. She had no doubt what he was saying.

"My relationship with my employees is strictly professional," Logan said fiercely, not wanting anyone to think he was like his father in that aspect.

"Not even with your fiancée?" another girl a few rows back who had heard the rumors floating around the room muttered snidely.

"Excuse me?" Logan asked surprised, clearly hearing what the girl said.

The girl seemed to be frozen, but shakily tried to explain, "What I meant was that people said your fiancée writes for one of your papers, you must have a personal relationship with her."

Seeing Logan's annoyance, Rory looked at the audience they had. It was obvious that word had spread to some that she was in fact the illusive fiancée. Figuring there was nothing to loose and the fact that she was the fiancée would spread through the rest of the room quickly, Rory said, "I can assure you our relationship is strictly professional while we are at work."

Hearing her say that with such calm and seriousness caused a silence to fall over the room. This allowed Logan time to recover and begin, "Now that that is out of the way, are there any other questions before we begin?"

Rory was sure there were, but amazingly the group remained silent. After an appropriate pause, she heard Logan continue, "I'm not sure if this is necessary, but incase anyone in unaware, I'm Logan Huntzberger and this is Rory Gilmore and we will be talking to you about balancing campus and non-campus news at college papers."

While Logan was talking, Rory looked around the room one more time, fairly sure a member from her department was there. It took her longer to spot her, but sure enough, trying to be discrete in the back was Alison and a bit surprisingly Jason. Instead of making her nervous, she saw it as a challenge.

"Some issues are major things that you will, no doubt, be covering, like the election next year. But even with that, there are things that need to be decided. For instance, how often should it be covered in the months leading up to November? Part of this depends on how frequently your paper is published, but after that, knowing your readers is important. You will have the basic articles, but beyond that articles focusing on the student vote or issues college students focus on," Rory explained. "This is one example of a story that is not based on campus news, but is balanced by tying it to students. The other side is things that are strictly campus related: student protests, productions, activities."

"For this, however, we're going to talk about making larger topics relevant to your readers. Now, the first thing we need to do is identify what topics college students are interested in," Logan explained, then asked, "Anyone?"

From the back of the room a guy shouted, "Sex, drugs, and rock and roll!"

Logan laughed, "Not how a lot of people would put it, but oddly accurate."

Rory was smiling at the comment as well, but still asked, "Anything else?"

"Job markets," someone else said.

"Okay, let's take those two and bring them together," Logan suggested.

"How?" a student asked.

"Well, how many of you are on Facebook?" Rory asked, and saw a number of hands go up, but added, "MySpace?"

Seeing where she was going with her questioning, Logan asked, "Okay, now how many of you like to go to parties?"

Not surprisingly, almost all the hands were again up in the air, so Rory asked, "Now how many of you have pictures, public messages, or are in a group that says you party, or talks about excessive drinking, even drug use?"

At that, there was a slight pause, but eventually a good number of hands went back up. Rory looked at Logan, who gestured for her to continue, "What do you think a potential employer would think if they saw that?"

A few kids looked scared, but most just looked like they were thinking about what she said.

"Surveys of employers are showing that more and more companies are looking into these types of sites to learn more about potential job candidates," Logan informed them.

"Also," Rory said, "Student groups, especially national fraternities and sororities, have been revoking students' membership or even disbanding chapters based on evidence of underage drinking and hazing on their profiles."

"You'd have to be incredibly stupid to put up pictures of hazing," someone commented.

"And in fact, there are incredibly stupid people in the world," Logan replied, then added, "and at college campuses as well."

"The fact remains that students are being punished for things they publish on Facebook or MySpace. While loosing your membership in a fraternity may not seem like a big deal to some of you, not getting a job for the same reason would probably be a very big deal to you. Both cases are happening, and taking these national issues and tying them directly to something that is common for college students to have would make a good article," Rory explained, trying hard not to laugh at Logan's remark.

From there, they discussed that topic a bit more, but also moved onto other issues that could be used. When the workshop ended, people stayed to asked questions, and by lunch, word of the workshop had spread. In fact, there was enough interest by those who had not been able to attend that a second session was added that afternoon.

--

After the workshop, Alison and Jason worked their shifts at the conference before heading back to the _Observer_. When they got there, a curious Danielle and Sue asked them what they thought.

"So?" Danielle asked.

"I still think it was arranged," Alison said, causing the others to roll their eyes.

"Alison, you'll think that no matter what," Sue told her.

"Because it's true!" she defended.

"Because you want him for yourself," Danielle corrected.

"So what if I do?" Alison asked.

"Nothing," Jason said laughing, "but that doesn't make you the most objective observer."

"So you think they're in love?" she scoffed, "you heard them fight last week!"

"We all did," Sue reminded her, "but she told Julie they were fine, and I saw them talking when they thought no one was around. They weren't fighting at all. Actually, they looked like they care about each other."

"What about how she acted in the workshop? She didn't do anything," Alison pointed out, remembering the other reason they had been observing her.

"That's not true," Jason said, causing Alison to glare at him, "she held her own."

"That's what I thought when I saw her in the other workshop," Danielle commented.

"They could have just prepared her really well," Alison pointed out.

"But those topics were thought of by the students, how could she prepare for that?" Jason asked. He wasn't about to argue the nature of her relationship with Logan, but after working with her, he was fairly sure that she was more than competent when it came to journalism.

"Maybe she just happened to know a lot about that subject: I mean Facebook, come on, that's not that obscure of a topic."

"There was more to it, and you know it," Jason told her, "Now, is there anything else you want to know? Otherwise, I need to get to work."

Everyone shook their head, and as the group broke so they could get back to work, Alison said one last time, "I still say it's arranged!"

--

_**A/N: I really can't say how sorry I am this wasn't up sooner. Just after my last post I found out I got a job in Texas (I currently live in Michigan) and so went into a full frenzy to get everything done before I leave. So between taking care of things here, packing, planning my move, and seeing friends/family before I do it slowed down the writing process. Then just when I had some time I got a bad sinus infection and wasn't sleeping and needed to go on antibiotics. **_

_**That being said, I leave this week and while I don't anticipate a long delay from now until 36, I don't know what my work schedule will be like yet and it will take some time to get settled. Please bear with me, and check the blog for updates. Again sorry for the wait!**_

_**I hope you like the make up scene and besides that hope, you enjoyed the chapter, and please let me know what you thought :)**_


	36. Are Those Strippers?

--

"Logan, promise me that there won't be any strippers," Rory said firmly.

"Ace, Finn planned this, not me. What if I promised you that, and Finn hired strippers? Then, I would be breaking my promise to you."

"I'm not kidding," Rory said, not giving up, "I don't want you gawking at naked women."

Logan smirked at her, "Fine, I promise that if I see naked women, I won't gawk. I will only think about how much I love you."

"Uhhh," Rory groaned, not wanting to voice the insecurities that she had even after all their time together.

"**And**," Logan said, stressing the word, "how I would rather have you in front of me naked than anyone else."

"That's better," Rory conceded and blushed, then leaned in to give him a short sweet kiss on the lips.

Just as she went to pull back, Logan held her in places, and moved to her ear, whispering,  
"But there's just something about a beautiful woman taking off her clothes so enticingly, it's incredibly sexy. And if that beautiful woman happens to be the love of your life, well then, it's like heaven."

"What exactly are you implying Mr. Huntzberger?" Rory asked innocently.

"Just that the idea of you stripping for me is one of the sexiest things I can imagine," he replied honestly.

Rory smiled at his shameless flirting, but then saw the other girls looking on and froze. Looking at the goofy grin on his face, she demanded, "Who told?"

Logan snapped out of his very pleasant day dream confused, "Told what?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Rory said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Ace, I have no idea what you're going on about, honest."

"Who told you about stripping?" Rory said, thinking his face would show recognition.

"After hours HBO, maybe it was Showtime, I don't remember" Logan babbled, now getting very confused by her questions.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Rory huffed, then practically yelled, "About me learning to strip!"

"You learned how to strip?" Logan asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

Seeing his surprise, Rory realized that he didn't have a clue about the stripping lessons at her lingerie party before she said anything and mumbled, "And you had no idea."

Logan smiled at her obvious frustration, and couldn't help but tease, "Nope, but I suddenly don't want to get on that plane." After saying that, he kissed her deeply before Rory could respond.

It was Saturday morning, just over a week had passed since the seminar, and she was standing at a private airstrip with Logan as he and the other guys were about to board a plane for Las Vegas. It was the weekend before Thanksgiving, the time they planned to have their bachelor and bachelorette parties. It was a bit early, but they had decided that with Thanksgiving the following week and the start of the Christmas party season after that, now was the best time.

Once Logan had his fill of the kiss, he pulled back and said seriously, "Rory, promise me there won't be any strippers," mocking her statement from a few moments earlier.

"That's not the same thing," Rory defended.

"No?" he challenged, "I don't want to think about you oogling some bodybuilder either."

"Logan," Rory said with an eye roll, "**Lane** planned my party. Who planned yours again? Finn was it? Who do you really think is more likely to hire naked people of the opposite sex for entertainment?"

"Point taken," Logan offered. "So…"

"So…" Rory replied with a smile.

"See you Sunday?" Logan asked, chuckling at their '_so thing_._'_

"Yeah," Rory said, giving him one more kiss, "Have fun, but don't get arrested."

"Yes, Mother," Logan mocked.

Rory smacked Logan across the chest and demanded, "Take that back!"

"Why?"

"You compared me to your mother, I'm offended!"

"Please accept my deepest apologies," Logan said dramatically.

"I'll think about it," Rory teased.

"Fair enough," Logan conceded and leaned in for one last kiss.

--

Colin and Steph stood silently facing each other, with a very pronounced one foot gap between them, both stubbornly not wanting to say anything. Finally, Colin caved, "How long are you going to stay mad at me?"

"How long did you act like an ass?" Steph shot back rhetorically.

"I apologized! What more do you want? Contrary to what you may wish, I do not have the ability to turn back time."

"And whose fault is that?" Steph said, hands now on her hips and tapping her foot.

"You're seriously yelling at me for not accomplishing something that is entirely fictional!"

Steph glared, "I'm yelling at you for being stupid enough the first time. Trust me, that's reason enough!"

Again they feel into silence, and again Colin broke it, "Well at least the strippers won't be so overdramatic!"

"Strippers? You're having strippers?" Steph growled.

"Oh, so you do care?" Colin asked, with a grin. When Steph didn't respond, he continued, "One minute you act like you never want to see me again, and now, you're jealous of strippers. Wow Steph, never pegged you as the insecure type."

"I don't care about you, you twit! I care about Rory! Don't you dare hire strippers Colin James McCrae!"

"We don't have to hire strippers for me to see them. I'm a big boy, we're going to be in Vegas, I can do things on my own."

Steph just stared at him open mouthed. After a few second, she regained her composure, "Well, I hope you enjoy them," then turned and walked away.

--

A few feet away, Bri was talking to Finn. She had her arms wrapped around his waist, but her head was tilted back so she could look at him as she said, "Have fun."

"You're not going to threaten me about hiring strippers?" Finn asked, a little disappointed that she didn't seem to mind.

"You didn't," Bri said confidently.

"This is a bachelor party, Doll," Finn explained, "Strippers are standard issue."

"That may be, but you didn't hire any," Bri stated.

"Is that so?" Finn asked, now confused by how calm she was being.

"Yes."

"How do you figure?" he asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"Well first, you love Rory, and you know how much that would bother her; second, you don't want to cause problems between Logan and Rory, and strippers would cause problems; and third, you have amazing self preservation skills," Bri ticked off.

"Yes… true… and what?" Finn said, acknowledging each statement.

"You still want to have a girlfriend when you come back?"

"Very much so," Finn said with a nod.

"And you know," Bri continued, "that your girlfriend would be very upset by strippers."

"Would she?" Finn asked playfully, despite knowing she was serious, "You sound like you've met her."

"Perhaps," Bri teased with a small smile.

"I promise, no strippers," Finn said seriously.

"Good, now go have fun, and don't call me drunk."

"Finally, a woman who accepts my true love," Finn said dramatically.

"Bye Finn," Bri said, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck to pull his head down towards her. She kissed him and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too, Doll," he said sincerely, finally letting her go.

--

After seeing off their significant others, Rory, Steph, Bri, and Honor made their way out of the airport to the car they had waiting for them to head back across town.

"What's the plan?" Rory asked, curiously. She knew this was her bachelorette party, but besides that, she had no idea what had been planned.

Steph knew that she was digging for information so smiled and said, "Meet up with the others."

Rory rolled her eyes, but knew that asking any more questions would be useless, and instead turned to her friend, "So Steph, what is going on between you and Colin?"

"He won't take me to a spa," Steph said with fake pout.

"As in, said you can't go? Or won't pay for you to go?"

"As in he won't go with me," she clarified.

"And what made you think Colin would go to a spa?" Honor asked.

"He said we could go away for a weekend as a way to make up for flipping out about my job change."

"Okay…" Rory said, not sure where this was going.

"And after some thinking, I suggested a weekend at the spa," Steph said innocently.

"And I repeat, why would Colin want to go to a spa?" Honor asked again.

At this point, Steph gave a huge grin, "I thought that enduring a weekend at the spa would be the final part of his punishment."

"You," Honor said, "are an evil genius! And, you've obviously spent too much time with those boys."

This caused the girls to laugh, but then Rory turned back and asked, "So you weren't really fighting?"

"Oh no, we were fighting," Steph answered, and when no one said anything she offered, "What he did hurt me, supporting each other unconditionally is important to me."

"It is in all relationships," Bri offered, and the other girls nodded in agreement.

"It just threw us off. Things have been a bit awkward since then, which makes us both tense and we overreact and fight about stupid things," Steph said in a small rant. Smiling at the group, she perked up and said, "But enough about me, don't think I didn't see you blushing Rory."

"I saw that too," Bri commented.

Deciding to just admit what was said, Rory explained, "We were talking about his promise that there wouldn't be strippers…"

"There's not, Finn told me," Bri said, piping in.

"I'm glad," Rory said, "But Logan assured me that he would rather see me naked than a stripper."

"And that made you blush?" Honor asked surprised.

"Yeah, but it got worse later when he brought up me stripping for him. I thought one of you told him about our lesson!"

"We didn't!" Bri exclaimed.

"I know that now, but I didn't then, so I ended up telling him."

"Bet he liked that idea," Steph teased.

At this, Rory just started blushing again, but didn't say anything, causing the girls to laugh.

"You don't think they'll do anything too crazy, do you?" Bri asked, sounding a little nervous while changing the subject for her friend.

"Nope," Steph stated.

"You seem so calm," Bri said surprised. She knew that her relationship with Finn was doing well, and he had gone out of town for business trips, but this was different.

Honor decided now was a good time to jump in so she explained, "Look at it this way, if Finn screws up, chances are, the rest of them screwed up as well. They know what's good for them."

Hearing the way that Honor said the last part, Bri couldn't help but laugh, "So you're saying that I should stop worrying?"

"Yes!" Rory, Steph, and Honor exclaimed together. The group laughed for a while before falling back into a much less serious conversation. Soon enough, the car pulled up to a stop in front of a hotel.

"A hotel?" Rory asked, slightly confused.

"Patience, Rory, patience," Steph chided playfully.

Not being deterred, Rory continued to look around and stated, "Wait, this is Finn's hotel! Why are we at Finn's hotel?"

Without saying anything else, Steph rolled her eyes as she led them to the elevators and then up to the top floor. When the doors opened, Steph turned and went down the hallway, stopping in front of one of the few doors on the floor, which obviously led to one of the larger suites.

Slightly confused, Rory remained silent as Steph opened the door to reveal Lane, Paris, Louise, Madeline, Juliet, and Rosemary.

Rory went around greeting the rest of the girls. Finally, she reached Lane. After a long hug, Rory pulled back and asked, "What is all of this?"

Rory knew that Lane was planning her bachelorette party, so she was expecting something more low key. She didn't like to discuss money with Lane, but she knew that her friend couldn't afford an extravagant weekend, and she didn't want Lane to feel like she had to plan one. And truth be told, some of the weekends that Rory had spent on the couch with her best friend talking and watching movies were the most memorable.

Lane blushed, understanding the unvoiced question, "Well, I had a few ideas, and we're still doing some of them, but when I was at your shower, Finn and I were talking, and he offered this for tonight."

Rory didn't say anything, so Lane continued, "I had thought about doing it in Stars Hollow, either at your mom's or the Dragonfly, but we both know there isn't much to do there…"

Rory felt the need to interject, knowing Lane felt awkward sometimes around all the money, "Lane, you know I would have loved it."

Lane gave Rory a small smile, "I know, but when Finn offered the suite, I started thinking about all the stuff there is to do here."

"I know, but…" Rory began, wanting to make sure Lane knew it wasn't necessary.

Before she could finish, Paris interrupted, "Give it a rest Gilmore! We all know how boring your town is, and I, for one, am much happier in civilization."

"Hey!" Rory chided, feigning insult, but she and Lane couldn't help falling into a fit giggles knowing that Paris was right.

Lane calmed down, smiled, and replied, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Finn offered us any of the hotel services on the house."

"Any services?" Steph asked, looking very interested from her seat on the couch.

"Yup," Lane said with a happy smile, and as if on key, a knock sounded at the door. Lane walked over and opened the door, letting in a train of employees. As they filed in, Lane turned back to the slightly confused group and announced, "Manicures and pedicures!"

At once, all the girls began looking through the nail polish, trying to decide on colors, ready to enjoy some pampering.

--

The group of guys able to join Logan, Finn, Colin, for the trip were, of course the other two groomsmen, Josh and Seth; then Austin and Ben, two of Logan's cousins; Ethan, Steph's brother; and Brett, Jonathan, and Anthony, three guys from the LDB.

The flight started off fairly subdued, with the guys catching up with each other, and generally teasing Logan about being the first of the trio to settle down. Despite the teasing, Logan was enjoying himself, and soon enough Finn was mixing them all drinks, as they settled in to watch _Snatch._

Shortly after the movie ended, the pilot announced they were beginning their decent. Finn used the silence this created to stand up, clear his throat and dramatically say, "Gentlemen, we are gathered here today, to give our last respects to our dear friend, Logan Huntzberger…"

"I'm getting married not executed," Logan said with an eye roll.

"The difference is?" he shot back.

"You like Rory!"

"Fine, ruin my speech," Finn pouted and began again, "Gentlemen, we are here for one last weekend of debauchery before Logan finally makes an honest woman out of the very beautiful Rory..."

"Too sappy," Anthony critiqued.

"So demanding," Finn said with a huff, "Gentlemen, we're…"

"No!" Logan and Colin yelled at the same time.

When Finn stopped speaking, Colin said, "We get it."

"Anything else you want to say?" Seth asked, hoping to spare the rest of the group whatever was about to happen.

"When we land, we're going to the hotel to check in, and then, we'll meet up at 3:00."

"What's the plan after that?" Austin asked.

"Patience, gentleman…" Finn said seriously as he sat down.

When they landed and got out of the plane, two limos were waiting to take them to the hotel. Once they arrived at the hotel to check in, the manager welcomed them and exchanged a few words with Finn before excusing himself, allowing the guys to go to their rooms.

Finn had rented the two suites on the top floor for the occasion. After taking some time to settle in, they started getting ready for whatever Finn had in store for them. Soon enough all the guys were gathered in the sitting room by 2:45.

Finn looked at the clock confused, "It's not 3."

"So?" Colin asked confused.

"We're early, we're never early. We're **never** early."

"Steph's not here," Logan commented.

"Hey," Colin defended, "Rory's not much better."

"Stop!" Seth commanded, "We're not doing this again, we're all whipped remember?"

"Hey," Austin, Logan's cousin, yelled, "Some of us are single."

"Whatever," Seth replied with a shrug, "Just tell us what we're doing Finn."

"We're going down to the casino."

"That's it?" Brett asked shocked, "All this secrecy, and we're just gambling. We're in Vegas, no shit, we're going to gamble! I thought that went without saying."

"That's where we're going first," Finn said as he walked out the door.

After a few grumbles, the guys made their way downstairs. Before they reached the casino floor, the hotel owner greeted them to ask if he could help with anything and to let them know the perks that they offered to their 'high profile guests.' He also assured them that if they needed anything, they should not hesitate to ask. Finn promised him that they would let him know and thanked him before leading them out onto the casino floor. Once there, the guys broke into smaller groups as they looked for different games.

--

"Lane, why won't you tell me where we're going?" Rory whined.

When she whined, Steph couldn't help but laugh from the other side of the car.

Looking at the blonde, slightly more concerned, Rory asked suspiciously, "Why is Steph so amused?

"No reason," Steph said way too innocently.

"What do you know?" Rory demanded. Seeing the small smile that formed on Steph's face, she added, "And, you've spent way too much time with Finn."

Shrugging her shoulders, Steph kept up the façade and said, "I know nothing."

"I don't believe you," Rory shot back with an eye roll.

Lane decided to take some pity on Rory and offered a pseudo explanation, "I didn't know much about New York so I called for some help."

"What kind of help? And from whom?" Rory asked, getting a bit nervous.

Lane offered, "I called Steph asking for some ideas for what we could do for dinner. She immediately said that she knew the perfect place, and it would be dinner and a show, then she offered to call and get it all organized."

"I'm suddenly much more worried," Rory said dryly.

"Hey!" Steph yelled.

"So who else did you call?" Rory asked, digging for more information.

"Nope, no more information," Lane teased, "You just have to wait!"

Rory pouted at that, but thought about the information that she had on dinner and began to think of all the different shows that she'd heard about in New York. She was sure she was missing something and kept looking around trying to pick up hints about where they might be headed.

"Are we there yet?" she asked, getting impatient.

"Calm down, we'll be there in a minute," Paris snapped from her place in the back of the group.

Deciding it probably wouldn't give too much away, and even if it did, Lane could say that she tried to warn her, she offered, "It's a restaurant called Lucky Cheng's."

Madeline got excited, "I love Chinese food!"

Lane and Steph couldn't help but giggle at the comment, while Paris just rolled her eyes and said, "Think Maddy."

"About what?" Maddy asked confused, "What's wrong with liking Chinese food? I mean who doesn't love reading their fortune."

When Lane and Steph started laughing again, Rory felt like she was missing something. She had faith that whatever Lane agreed to would be fun, so she settled for giving her friends a mock pout. Soon enough, the car stopped, and they were standing in front of a brightly lit building, the words _Lucky Cheng's_ in neon lights.

"Finally dinner!" Rory said excitedly. They hadn't had a chance to eat since they ate breakfast with the guys before dropping them off at the airport. Needless to say, she was starving.

"I'm starving too," Bri exclaimed, happy that they would finally be eating.

Lane didn't say anything in response, instead led them into the building. When they walked inside, the room was much darker, but still colorful with neon signs covering the walls.

Lane walked up to the hostess stand and said, "Reservation under Gilmore."

The hostess looked down at the book, then smiled, "Ah, a bachelorette party. Just a minute."

As the hostess looked back up and walked out from behind the booth, it revealed a long sheer pink gown that only seemed to have a thong under it. When she saw this, Rory gasped in surprise, grabbed Steph's arm, who happened to be closest, and exclaimed, "That's a guy!"

Steph laughed, and just nodded. Rory looked around and was happy to see Bri, Madeline, and Louise looking surprised as well.

Bri, who was the first on to recover from the shock, walked up quickly and stumbled, "He...I mean she…well whatever…"

Before Bri could explain what she was thinking, Honor spoke up, "Looks oddly good in drag?"

"Not what I was thinking, but yes," Bri said, still a bit surprised.

"I know! I need to ask him what type of foundation he uses, the coverage is amazing," Louise commented seriously, having quickly gotten over her initial surprise.

"And did you see the nail polish?" Madeline asked joining the conversation, "I need that color."

As the two girls got lost in a conversation about make-up, Rory looked around the place more, finally taking it all in.

Seeing her still surprised face, Honor walked up beside her and said, "Come on Rory, you've never heard of _Lucky Cheng's_?"

Rory shook her head, "Should I have?"

Honor gave a light laugh, "It's a fairly well known restaurant and not for its food." When Rory just looked confused, she added, "It's mostly because all the servers are drag queens."

Lane had also noticed the look on Rory's face, and was a bit worried until she saw Rory calm down as Honor talked to her. Hoping to help Rory relax even more, Lane walked over as Rory was still looking around and whispered to her, "Kirk should work here."

It worked, and for the moment, Lane's comment caused Rory to laugh as she thought about all the crazy things that man had done. Rory was soon broken from her thoughts by the hostess saying their table was ready.

As they were seated, the group wisely sat Rory between Lane and Honor who would have the best luck at calming Rory down enough to have fun.

Before anyone could say much, a woman dressed in mini skirt and bikini top said, "My name's Eden, welcome to _Lucky Cheng's_. Can I start you off with some drinks?"

They ordered their drinks, while the girls continued to take in the restaurant.

Finally, Juliet sighed, "That's so not fair." Her comment brought all the girls out of their thought and focus on what Juliet had just said.

"What isn't?" Paris asked confused.

Rosemary answered for her friend, "Our waitress looks better in a string bikini than I ever will."

This caused the girls to laugh, but nod in agreement.

When the waitress returned, she served the drinks, but as she went to set the last one down she stumbled slightly causing a bit of the drink to spill onto the table.

"Oops," she said while quickly grabbing a towel to wipe it off. "Look at me, such a klutz. I'm supposed to be a graceful lady, not a guy wearin' a bikini walking like he's never worn heels."

The theatrics of her actions made all the girls laugh, and caused Rory to relax even more. The waitress finished wiping up the spill, then made a show of curtsying before walking away.

As she did, Lane exclaimed, "She's wearing 4 inch heels. Those would kill me!"

This caused the rest of the girls to look and sure enough, all the waitresses were wearing very high, high-heels and walking in them like pros.

"They wouldn't kill you," Louise giggled at the exclamation.

"Fine…**maybe** not kill me, but easily make me break an ankle or trip. **And** if I were wearing heels then I'd be at some large gathering because that's the only time I can be forced into them. In either case, I would end up falling, and then I would **want** to die," Lane ranted.

Hearing her expert rant, Bri laughed and asked Rory, "Does she get that from you or the other way around?"

"A little bit of both, but we both got it from my mom," Rory answered.

Lane nodded in agreement, "No one can match Lorelai: She holds the record for her Great Rant of 2002."

"Ah yes, 27 minutes without a pause," Rory said laughing at the memory.

Hearing this, Bri shook her head and said, "I don't know if I'm impressed or scared."

"Again, a little bit of both," Lane said, causing the table to laugh.

As the girls were laughing, their waitress came up and asked, "Now which one of you scrumptious ladies is Stephanie?"

Steph let out a small laugh while answering, "That would be me."

The waitress let out a small giggle, "I'm going to guess you have men wrapped around your finger."

"Yes," Rory, Honor, and Rosemary all replied before Steph had a chance.

"I do not!" Steph defended.

Juliet rolled her eyes, "Yes, you do. Don't deny it."

"Rory's worse!" Steph accused pointing at her friend.

"Am not," Rory said acting offended.

Paris looked at her in disbelief, "You've always had guys at your beck and call, just because you're too naive to realize it and to nice to take advantage of it, doesn't make it any less true."

Hearing this, the waitress smiled and asked, "Now that we have that settled, we can move on. Miss Stephanie, here, was asked to pre-ordered dinner for tonight. She picked sweet and sour chicken, General Tso's chicken, sub gum, mixed vegetables, egg rolls, and fried and plain rice. Is there anything you want to add?"

Glancing around the table, everyone shook their heads, but Rory bit her lip, thinking.

Seeing this, the waitress asked, "Yes, sweetheart?'

"Do you have Crab Rangoon?" Rory asked timidly, she wasn't even going to say anything, but it was one of her favorite appetizers.

Trying to look appalled that Rory would even ask the question, the waitress dramatically answered, "Only the best in New York."

Rory smiled, and said, "Can we add that."

"Sure thing, doll," and noted the addition.

"Anything else?"

Steph glanced around again, but seeing nothing said, "I think we're all set."

"Excellent," the waitress responded and walked away from the table.

The group was quiet for a minute after the waitress left. Breaking the silence, Lane asked the table in a loud whisper, "Do you think it's she?"

"What?" Juliet asked, not following.

"The drag queens, would they be a he or a she?" Lane asked now blushing slightly, feeling weird for asking the question.

"Well I mean, obviously, we know they're men," Rosemary offered, "but he doesn't seem right."

"Exactly," Steph said, "Besides the sign on the podium when we walked in clearly said _Hostess_, which makes them waitresses, so while we're here, it's she."

No one could argue with that logic, so the conversation dropped. The girls continued chatting when Rory saw one of the drag queens walking up on to the stage as the music started playing louder to gain the crowd's attention. Before the drag queen on stage could do anything, Rory turned and asked panicked, "Are they strippers?"

"Rory…" Lane, who was sitting to her right, tried to say calmly, wanting to ease her friend.

"Because I kept lecturing Logan about how he couldn't have strippers…"

"Rory!" Paris yelled, from her place across the table from Rory, managing to get Rory's attention, not to mention a few other people sitting nearby.

"No strippers, promise," Lane said calmly.

"If you say so…" Rory said, but still not completely comfortable about the whole thing.

"Rory," Honor said, "relax. Think about it this way, I'm calm. And if one of us should worry about what happens tonight, it'd be me. Who do you think will be more laid back about our plans: Josh or Logan?"

Rory knew that Logan would be the more laid back of the two, but she still wasn't sure if that made her feel better. However, she couldn't protest because the waitress returned, donning them all with bachelorette party sashes and tiaras, before serving them another round of drinks. To Rory's surprise, there were three large bowls placed on the table, all of which were on fire. Steph, who obviously had them before, quickly blew them out and put four straws in each bowl so the girls could share.

Almost immediately after the drinks were served, a group of dancers came out on stage in elaborate costumes to start the show.

The show started out very tame, with an almost chorus line feel to it. Then, they all stopped and when the music came back on, it was clear they were in for a major change of pace. It was loud and fast, and almost immediately the dancers got much more risqué.

Rory jaw dropped when she saw this and she whispered loudly, "I didn't know guys could move their hips like that…" Immediately after it came out, Rory slapped her hands over her mouth, but the table had already heard.

Wiggling her eyebrows, Steph said, "And here I've only heard boasting about that particular talent of Logan's. From all the things you've told me, I would have thought he could move like that if not better."

"Ewww!" Honor screamed and covered her ears.

"But _that_ is so not the same as dancing, it's…" Rory began, but then got embarrassed about what she almost said and finished lamely, "Well for that."

Seeing how red Rory was turning, Steph let it drop and went back to watching the show, but couldn't help but laugh a little at how Rory was still flustered talking about sex even after being with Logan for over two and a half years now.

The group on stage continued dancing, receiving many cat calls and whistles from the women in the crowd. As their show ended, the guys left the stage and moved back to their normal tasks, some returning to wait on their tables while others dragged both men and women to the various chairs set up on tiny stages for lap dances.

After the dancing, another round of drinks were brought to the table, followed shortly by dinner. When they were done eating, Eden came by and politely told them that they had more groups waiting to be seated, and wanted to know how much longer they would be. Taking the hint, the girls finished up, paid, and headed out.

--

The guys had been in the casino for nearly two hours, when the group met back up in the lobby, ready to see what Finn had planned for their evening. Finn, however, just stayed quiet as he led them to a waiting limo, which started driving down the strip once they were all inside.

When they stopped, Logan watched as Ethan, Ben, Jonathan, Brett, and Anthony grinned, got quickly out of the limo, and started talking. As they walked towards the building, Logan could hear his blonde cousin, Ben, saying, "…and the next thing I know the stripper tore my shirt open and bit my nipple! It was the hottest thing ever!"

"I didn't need to know that about my brother!" Austin yelled from nearby, and catching up with the group to swat him on the arm, leaving the other guys laughing.

Logan laughed at his cousin's antics and turned back to the rest of the group who had remained still, looking at Finn in confusion.

Seth was the first to speak, "I thought you agreed to not have strippers."

"These are showgirls," Finn said proudly.

"I think the ban was against naked woman in general," Colin pointed out.

Logan saw Finn was about to argue with Colin on some random technicality, so added, "Or topless women."

Even so, Finn kept smiling, "Every bachelor party needs to have at least some scantly clad women."

Motioning to himself and Josh, Seth reminded Finn, "Some of us have wives that don't care why we saw them."

"I have a girlfriend too!" Finn exclaimed, getting frustrated that the guys seemed to think that he was the same guy from college.

"We know," Logan assured him, "So how is this activity one that won't get you on the bad side of the lovely Miss Carter?"

"They're traditional showgirls," Finn explained.

"Which means what exactly?" Josh asked.

"Bikinis and headdresses," Logan muttered, now seeing Finn's logic.

"Where's the fun it that?" Colin asked.

"You were the one who just said you couldn't see naked women," Finn argued.

"I can't, I just don't see the point of this."

"Every bachelor party needs scantly clad women," Finn repeated.

"So we're just going to go watch girls in bikinis? I can see that at a beach," Colin whined.

"We're having dinner here too," Finn told him, then explained "I was looking for something fun to do for dinner and when I saw this…I figured it was as good as anything else. PLUS, it had…"

"Women, we get it," Seth finished, and slapping Logan and Colin on the back, he headed towards the building, "Okay boys, let's go."

Laughing at Finn's logic, the guys headed inside to find that the rest of the group who was ahead of them. When they did, it was to find six highly disappointed men who had obviously realized what Finn had explained outside.

Once they were seated, Finn ordered a round of scotch for everyone. Since the rest of the meal had been preordered, their appetizers arrived quickly, and the show began shortly after. The guys watched silently as the show began. They weren't entirely sure what to expect at first, but soon found themselves much more impressed than they expected to be.

The silence was broken by Ethan commenting, in a whisper loud enough for everyone at the table to hear, "Some of them look really hot, too bad this is all we'll see."

"How can you tell the difference?" Austin asked, glancing along the row of women, not being able to see anything but slight height differences between them.

"I can't, doesn't mean they're not hot," Ethan defended, getting a nod from Jonathan and Ben, whom he had met through Steph and other LDB alumni, as well.

Seth glanced over at the eager looks on Ethan's and Jonathan's faces, and couldn't resist saying, "You know, they say a number of the _girls_ aren't actually **girls**."

"What?" Austin said, whipping his head around to face Seth.

"Just something I heard," Seth said casually, watching the guys stare with much more skeptical looks.

"I heard that some of the showgirls are actually guys as well," Logan agreed, laughing as the rest of the guys seemed to lose interest in the show momentarily.

The group quieted down again when their food arrived at intermission, and stayed quiet during the second half of the show. Soon enough, the show ended, and they were leaving. Finn led them back out to the limo, where he surprised, and admittedly disappointed, the group by having them dropped back off at their hotel. Finn led them inside, but instead of going back to the casino floor, he headed down a deserted hallway.

As the group walked behind Finn, they were once again greeted by the hotel manager, who said, "Mr. Morgan, your room is ready."

"Thank you," he said simply and followed the manager, who led them further into the building. Finally, they entered a fairly large room that they could tell was set up for a private party, complete with a full size table for card games, craps, and roulette, a large screen TV, a fully stocked bar, and a couch spread throughout the room. There was also a bartender and dealer ready for them.

Before the guys could get distracted, Finn got their attention to let them know how the night would work. When Finn had been planning the weekend, the other groomsmen approached him, insisting that they contribute money for the weekend. After some thinking, Finn decided that he would use their contributions for a gambling tournament. There would be three rounds: roulette, craps, and poker. For each round, each of the guys would receive a set number of chips. They would play the first two games for a set amount time, and when it was up, everyone would be ranked based on the amount of chips they had left or in the order in which they ran out.

For poker, they would play until they ran out of chips, and their ranks would be determined by the order in which they ran out. After finishing the third game, the rankings from each of the three rounds would be added together, and the person with the best overall ranking would win. The money the other groomsmen contributed would be used as the winnings for the top 5 finishers. The rest of the guys would get prizes picked out by Finn himself.

Finn explained this to the guys, who hearing that Finn had bought the gifts himself, decided that was reason enough to try and do well.

Before the games started, they took a few minutes to get drinks.

As they were getting settled, Finn announced, "I have one more surprise."

"Please let his pants stay on, please let his pants stay on…" Colin whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"That's not what I was thinking, but now that you mention it…" Finn said, moving his hands to his belt.

"Fine," Colin huffed, knowing that Finn would take his pants off without hesitation, "I'm sorry, what did you really want to say."

"Well, you all complained enough that you would miss it," Finn hinted, giving Colin a look.

Obviously, Colin was as clueless as the rest of the guys in the room because he asked, "Miss what?"

Finn rolled his eyes and flipped on the TV. Finding the video ready to go, he hit play.

"The Yale/Harvard game," Anthony said pleasantly surprised, remembering the elaborate tailgates he and the other guys in the LDB put on every year for the rivalry game.

"The game was hours ago," Colin pointed out.

"Well, with the wonders of modern technology, I ordered the game and arranged for the hotel to record it for us to watch. It's not like you know what happened," Finn defended, never having understood the excitement of the American sport.

"True," Jonathan said, eyeing the screen, much more interested than he was moments before.

The guys watched the opening kickoff and the first few minutes of the game before making their way to the table containing the classic numbered red and black wheel for roulette. Because it was a game that didn't require a lot of concentration, they could talk and watch the game while they played. They were talking rather loudly during a commercial when Brett yelled, "Shh…Be quiet."

Everyone stopped talking leaving the only sound in the room to be coming from the TV and looked at him in confusion, but he wasn't paying attention. All he said was, "Wait for it…"

Logan was about to ask him how much he had to drink when he heard the voice on the TV say, "…Side effects may include headaches, upset stomach, delayed back ache or muscle ache. To avoid long term injuries, seek immediate medical help if you experience an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have sudden decrease in vision, stop taking Cialis and call your doctor immediately."

Hearing this, Brett started laughing, and finally acknowledging the group, said, "Gets me every time."

"Is it really that funny?" Seth asked, used to Brett's behavior after working on many stunts with him, but Brett still surprised him at times as well.

Taking a sip of his drink Brett, placed a bet on 32 red and explained, "Just think about it. You're…say 50, and you start having trouble getting it up…"

"Nice choice of words," Ben joked, now understanding why his cousin Logan and Brett got along.

"Do you want to hear this or not?" Brett asked.

"Ignore him," Austin said, figuring the explanation would be fairly entertaining if nothing else, and revealing in the opportunity to quiet his big brother.

"Let's say you go to the doctor to get the medication, it's probably because it's been a while since you got some."

"You pig," Seth muttered.

Ignoring the side comment, Brett continued, "So you get the pill and one night you see your chance, so you take it. At this point, it's been at least six months since you've had sex, but probably much, much longer."

"What's your point?" Colin asked.

"Just that, I'd hope after 4 hours, I was still having sex. Need to make up for lost time."

"You're 60, it could kill you," Josh pointed out.

"But what a way to go," Brett said with a smile.

"You have an interesting mind, my friend," Logan commented.

Brett rolled his eyes, "My point is, four hours isn't that long for some good quality sex. Now six hours later? Eight? Sure seek medical attention, before that…use it."

They guys started arguing over what constituted _too long_ which inevitably turned to a conversation about their sex lives when they tried to figure out how long was the longest length of time they've had sex for. Discussing their longest time obviously led to a conversation about their first times, when of course it would have been a much shorter event.

"It's your bachelor party, Logan. I think it's only fair you tell first," Anthony said, having heard plenty about Logan's exploits during his early college years, but nothing before or after.

Logan laughed, "Thanksgiving break freshmen year, I was on vacation with my family skiing at Snowbird."

"Utah, good choice," Austin said absentmindedly, thinking of the ski resort that he had visited a number of times with their family.

Logan laughed at his cousin, "So of course, being Huntzberger's, we rented a house for the week. Dad invited a few business associates as well, and they were staying close by. Honor was in college, so it was just me. One night, my parents had this dinner party to attend, and I managed to avoid being dragged along. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my night when the doorbell rang. It turned out to be the daughter of one of his associates."

Knowing where this was going, Ben couldn't help but ask, "Was she hot."

"She was definitely good looking," Logan admitted, "She was a year or two older than me, long legs, dark red hair..."

"Wait!" Anthony interrupted, "I thought red heads were Finn's thing?"

"The obsession with red heads was definitely Finn's, but the obsession only started _after_ he heard that I had sex with one," Logan said with a laugh.

"What?" Josh asked, confused.

"I thought that if I found a redhead, she would have sex with me, and it would be as wild as it was for Logan," Finn explained.

"So you lost your virginity to a redhead too?" Seth asked, wanting clarification.

"Blonde," Finn said with a smile.

"So why not be obsessed with blondes?" Brett asked, trying to follow Finn's logic.

"It wasn't as good as I expected," Finn said seriously, with a shrug.

"The sex?" Ethan asked confused, "What happened?"

"I was home for spring break freshmen year to enjoy the Aussie summer. One day, I was at the beach and met a girl who I invited to a party the next night. We went and ended up hooking up."

"I'm not seeing the bad part," Colin said annoyed.

"It just wasn't as exciting as Logan made it sound. Well, the next girl I was with was a brunette, and it was a little bit better, but still not **wow**."

"Did you ever think that maybe it was you and had nothing to do with the girl?" Jonathan teased.

"Nope," Finn scoffed at him, and continued, "Redheads are fiery: They'd make things exciting!"

"And you were right," Brett stated more than asked, figuring this was the reason he had been dragged to hunt down redheads by the Aussie.

Finn seemed to think for a while and glanced at his two best friends, but finally after thinking, he said, "I don't know."

Colin was the first to process the statement and yelled, "You don't know? What does that mean? You've been chasing redhead for years!"

"You always said they were feisty and exotic," Logan added on, remembering many of his friend's rants about why he wanted a redhead.

"They are feisty! But they're too stubborn to let me get anywhere with them," Finn responded seriously.

"B-but…" Colin sputtered.

"All those times you made us chase down a redhead you saw!" Logan yelled.

"I wanted to find out what they were like," Finn said seriously.

"I don't buy it," Logan said firmly after thinking about this new found information.

"Have you ever seen a redhead leaving my room?" Finn challenged.

At the question, Logan and Colin started to actually think back to the many girls that spent the night with Finn in college. There were all different types, but no matter how hard they thought, they couldn't remember a single redhead.

Finally, Logan spoke, "No, but…"

"I said I was destined to be with one, but you were the ones who always assumed I was sleeping with them."

"But you never corrected us!" Colin yelled, feeling like the last few years had been a lie.

"Nope," Finn said with a satisfied smirk on his face.

Logan however was still thinking, and finally asked, "You've been obsessed for ten years because of one story?"

"It's a bloody good story," Finn defended.

"Yeah, what happened after she came over?" Austin asked, remembering how they arrived at the current topic of discussion.

"She said she was bored, heard we had a hot tub, and was wondering if she could use it," Logan said, smirking at the memory.

"Oh, this is _sooo_ classic," Seth commented.

"So I led her to the hot tub, and she took off her clothes, leaving her in this tiny little string bikini. She had these legs and these curves…" Logan said remembering how excited he had been at the time.

"We get it, she was hot," Jonathan said playfully, before muttering, "Aren't they always?"

Logan heard the last comment, and laughed, "Anyways, I wasn't sure what to do, but then she asked me to join her, so of course, I ran upstairs and changed into my swim trunks. I think I did it in record time too."

"Any teenage guy would," Brett joked.

"Right," Logan said with a grin, "So I came back down and got in the tub. It was a bit awkward at first, but we started talking, and then all of a sudden she kissed me. We made out for a while, and the next thing I know, she stands up right between my legs and unties her top, pulls it off, and drops it on the ground outside the tub, then gives a completely fake _oops_."

Anthony, thinking back to his first time, just said, "You lucky bastard."

"Tell them what she did next," Finn said, remembering the next part of the story.

Logan rolled his eyes, "She kneeled over my lap, untied her bottoms and threw them over the side as well, giving me this innocent smile, and saying _I seem to have lost my bottoms, leaving poor little me all naked_. Then, she settled herself on my lap, started kissing me, and rubbing against me. After a while, she stands up, gestures for me to sit on the side of the tub, and then…well…"

"Wait," Austin interrupted confused, "So did you have sex _next_ to the hot tub or _in_ the hot tub?"

"In," Logan answered, not really wanting to get into too many specifics. He knew a long time had passed, but he always felt weird discussing too many details.

"You lost your virginity in a hot tub?" Ben asked, wanting to make sure he understood correctly, his voice holding a combination of shock and awe.

"I did," Logan confirmed.

"So why did she make you get out?" Brett asked, not following.

"For other activities that happen before sex," Logan said lamely, really not wanting to get into the details.

"How is it that Finn heard this story, and I didn't?" Colin finally asked.

"It never came up," Logan said causally.

"But it came up with Finn? The guy who never took anything seriously?" Colin questioned, slightly offended.

"I had to tell someone." Logan defended, "Besides, you were at school in Europe when it happened. Finn and I were both at boarding schools on the east coast, I saw him more."

"It's called a phone," Colin argued, feeling a bit left out.

"Colin, I hate to remind you, but you were the most uptight person I knew back then," Logan offered, hoping this would make him see reason.

"I was not!" Colin defended.

"You were mate," Finn said while throwing an arm around his shoulders, "but don't worry, we stayed friends with you anyways."

"So that's the whole story behind Finn's redhead obsession?" Seth asked again, just wanting to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

"What do you mean whole?" Finn asked, trying to act upset, "That was an amazing story when I was 15!"

"I guess," Jonathan said, "But still, I expected there to be something bigger behind it."

Finn was now getting upset, but decided it was time to get the focus off of him, "So if it wasn't that good of a story, let's hear about your first time."

After some protesting, Jonathan gave in and told the story of his first time. Although a good story, it wasn't nearly as entertaining as the first two. From there, the rest of the guys told their own stories.

Finally, they had all gone, when Logan gestured to his friend, and said, "Okay Colin, let's hear it."

"Hear what?" Colin asked, hoping the combination of playing dumb and the number of drinks the group had consumed would distract them from the topic.

"What have we been talking about?" Finn asked exasperated.

"My first time?" Colin asked in an almost convincingly confused voice.

"Yeah," Logan answered.

"I've told you before, why do I need to repeat myself?" Colin argued.

"No, you told us you had sex, and after some pestering, you assured us it was with a girl," Logan reminded him with a smirk.

"Some pestering?" Colin asked in disbelief, "Some?"

"Okay some pestering from me, I can't be held responsible for Finn," Logan conceded, the last comment caused Finn to scowl and everyone else to laugh. Getting back on subject, he said, "The point is, besides hearing that you actually had sex, we know nothing."

"It was sex," Colin said plainly, "What would you like, instructions? Diagrams?"

"We know how to do it just fine," Finn whined, "And, if I were going to get tips, it wouldn't be from you!"

"Hey!" Colin yelled.

"He just means that we don't need tips," Logan said somewhat patiently.

"I don't know what you want me to say," Colin said hoping that they would get frustrated with him and change the subject.

Unfortunately, he was not in luck: He was just making the group more curious. It was Brett who asked, "Where?"

Rolling his eyes, Colin sighed, "A hotel room."

"Junior prom?" Austin guessed.

"Homecoming," Colin corrected.

"Junior year though?" Jonathanquestioned.

"Yes!" Colin exclaimed exasperatedly.

"So what's the big deal?" Seth asked, not seeing why Colin was avoiding the topic, everyone else had talked about their first time. And, so far, this story sounded fairly cliché.

"Nothing, that's what I've been trying to tell you," Colin shot back.

"Then just tell us how it happened," Jonathan prodded.

"We were having fun at the dance, drinking some punch…"

"Spiked punch?" Finn asked.

"It was a high school dance, what do you think?" Colin said sarcastically.

"But, **I** wasn't there," Finn pointed out.

Rolling his eyes, Seth pointed out, "You do know high schoolers started spiking punch long before you were born?"

"I choose to believe that I started that tradition at every school I attended."

"The reality you live in must be a fascinating place," Brett commented.

"I like it," Finn replied, without missing a beat.

"Back to the story," Jonathan reminded them, knowing how easily this group got sidetracked.

Colin threw his friend a glare, "We had kissed some at the dance, and she hinted at going somewhere to be alone."

"And you conveniently had a hotel room available?" Brent asked.

Colin dropped his eyes and muttered something.

"What was that?" Logan asked with a smirk.

"I said, I had to rent one," Colin yelled, then realizing what he did, swore under his breath.

"Why didn't you have one?" Brett asked.

"I didn't know what was going to happen," Colin defended.

Trying to save his friend some embarrassment, Seth said, "So you rented one."

"Right, then we went up there, and it happened…" Colin said quickly.

"Oh, come on! We all said more than that."

"But it wasn't some crazy thing, it just happened," Colin said.

Seeing how much Colin was avoiding the topic, Finn knew that there was something more to the story, not to mention that he and Logan had never gotten more out of Colin about the subject. Thinking, he finally asked, "Did you have trouble performing?"

"What?!" Colin asked, having no idea where the question came from.

"You know they make a pill now that can help," Jonathan said seriously.

"I can do it fine by myself, thank you," Colin defended.

Seeing that he was getting flustered, Logan couldn't help but add, "I'm going to need references."

Colin whipped out his phone and scrolled quickly through his phonebook when Seth said casually, "Steph doesn't mind you still having the numbers of girls you've slept with in your phone?"

Colin stopped instantly and mumbled something, but shut his phone quickly and shoved it back in his pocket.

Logan laughed at his friend's antics, and said, "You're avoiding this way too much for it to be nothing. Are you sure there weren't performance problems?"

"I can assure you, _that_ worked just fine," Colin said seriously.

"So what happened?" Josh asked, at this point, even he was curious.

"We started making out, and after a while, I started taking off her dress."

"We know you're a prude Colin, but people are generally naked, or at least have some clothes removed before they have sex," Logan informed his friend.

Colin ignored his comment and continued, "We were still kissing, so I didn't get a chance to see her. My hands went up her back and I didn't feel a bra, so I was confused when I moved my hand to her chest and felt something still there."

"What?" Anthony asked.

"That was my reaction," Colin admitted, and let out a small laugh, "I was so confused I just stopped so I could look down."

"And?" Josh prompted, greatly intrigued by this story.

"It was a bra."

"But, I thought you said…" Benstarted, trailing off.

"I did," Colin quickly interrupted, "it wasn't there in the back, but it was there in the front."

After taking a few moments to try to dissect what Colin said, Seth recovered from his confusion and, laughing, commented, "Colin, that made no sense."

"What? Her dress was backless so I guess she got one of those backless bras…" Colin defended, "What am I supposed to call it."

"Sticky boobs!" Finn yelled, finally realizing what Colin was talking about.

"What?" Colin questioned, not understanding Finn.

"Sticky boobs," Finn repeated, "those bra things that stick to the girl's boobs."

"Yeah, I guess…"

Laughing at the boys' fascination, Seth spoke up, "I don't see what is so fascinating, Laura's worn them before, you guys had to have seen them before."

Seeing their still confused faces, Seth added, "All those parties we've attended, I'm sure Rory's worn them."

"Steph too," Anthony added.

"But this was in high school, I hadn't seen Steph naked yet," Colin pointed out.

"Damn straight!" Ethan yelled, not wanting to think about his sister's sex life.

Seeing the chance to finally turn the tables, Colin said, "Even now, she doesn't usually wear them, just goes bra-less…"

"Shut up!" Ethan exclaimed, clapping his hands over his ears, "I don't want to hear that!"

Logan just laughed at the exchange. Wanting to get the group back on track before they got completely distracted, he asked, "So what happened next?"

"She looked at me confused about why I stopped, and then noticed that I was just staring at her chest. I guess this made her look down, and when she did, she remembered what she still had on."

Finn gestured with his hands and excitedly asked, "So what did you do?"

Colin thought back to that night, and finally admitted, "I didn't know what they were, so I just kind of stared for a minute, trying to figure it out."

"Amateur," Brett muttered.

"This is the story of my first time," Colin argued, "Of course I was an amateur, that's the point!"

"Fine, but to not know what they were? All that would have taken was getting a girl topless," Austin pointed out.

"I was 17!" Colin defended.

"So what happened?" Anthony asked.

"She went in the bathroom, and a few minutes later came out in a bathrobe," Colin said plainly.

"And then?" Anthony asked, even thought he knew what was going to happen.

"You know what happened next!" Colin exclaimed, not wanting to talk about it any more detail.

"And how was it?" Brett asked.

"It was sex, I was a virgin. How do you think it was?" Colin asked rhetorically.

This comment caused the group fell silent for a moment. Finally Finn, who seemed to have been pondering something for a while, asked "Slow or quick?"

"The sex?" Colin asked, clearly confused, "I mean it wasn't the longest, but still I…"

"Not that, I'm sure you did fine," Finn said easily, but with skepticism in his voice, "The sticky boobs, did she take them off fast or slow?"

"I don't know, she was in the bathroom," Colin replied, never having pondered the issue.

"Okay, what do you **think** she did?" Finn asked, his mind obviously curious about the answer.

"Probably slow," Austin argued.

"I'd do it fast," Ethan debated back.

"That would hurt," Austin shot back.

"Women do pay to get waxing done," Jonathan pointed out.

"I never understood that," Ben said shaking his head.

"I learned a long time ago that I don't want to know why they do what they do to," Logan said.

"You sound traumatized," Brett said with a laugh.

"I was 12 and walked into the bathroom to see Honor plucking her eyebrows," Logan offered, knowing the story, while slightly embarrassing, was amusing.

"And?" Finn asked, feeling like there had to be more to the story.

"Well, her eyes were watering so I started teasing her for crying," Logan explained, and laughing mentally at the memory continued, "so she walked over, cornered me, and pulled out one of mine."

"What'd you do?" Austin asked, remembering how the brother and sister pair could be at that age.

"Screamed and ran out of the bathroom," Logan answered, then seeing the looks on his friends' faces added, "It hurt, you try it!"

"I'm good thanks," Colin said dryly.

"Yeah mate, I may have painted my nails occasionally, but at least I didn't pluck my eyebrows," Finn pointed out.

"It was one hair!" Logan defended, "And I didn't pull it out, Honor did!"

"Did you cry too?" Anthony asked.

"Shut up," Logan muttered.

"You did! You cried!" Finn said laughing and pointing.

"I was 12, and it hurt! I didn't know what to expect," Logan defended.

"I am suddenly very thankful that Steph is younger than me," Ethan commented, while laughing at Logan.

"Excuses, excuses," Seth said, in a teasing tone, then indicated that he wanted another card to the dealer.

They continued playing cards and talking until almost 1 a.m., when Austin finally won the last of Ethan's chips, effectively ending the night.

The dealer, whom Finn asked to keep track of how everyone finished, made a few notes on his paper before handing it to Finn. Finn looked it over and grinned before standing up. Keeping his drink in hand, he stumbled up to the front of the room and said, "Now for the results."

He walked over to a bag in the corner and dug through it before finally finding what he was looking for. He turned back to the group holding a pair on pink lace panties, "In last place…Colin," he announced and threw the panties at him.

Colin grumbled about it being rigged, but still held the panties in his hand.

Ignoring him, Finn turned back to his bag, with various sex related gifts for Jonathan, Ben, and Seth, the 9th, 8th, and 7th place finishers.

When he got to 6th place, he announced Logan's name and revealed a variety pack of body spreads. From there, he got to the places receiving money: Anthony, Brett, Ethan, Josh, and finally Austin, who had won.

--

The girls left the restaurant and made their way back to the hotel in their slightly inebriated state. When they got back, they saw that the rooms had been set up for a pajama party so they quickly went and changed into comfortable pajamas.

When they all had made their way back into the sitting room, Lane announced that they would be watching _Monster-in-Law_, in honor of Shira. The girls enjoyed the movie, but soon, it was over, and they were left wondering what they would do for the rest of the night.

Before they could wonder too much, Honor got up to face the group. "Now, we're ready to play some games," she said excitedly.

A few girls looked skeptical about this being fun, while Rory just looked nervous about being embarrassed.

Rolling her eyes at the looks on some of their faces, Honor went to her bag and pulled out a book and a stack of paper before announcing, "Bachelorette party Mad libs."

She passed out paper and pens to everyone, then opening it up to a random page, announced their first word, "Emotion," and waited for a few seconds as the girls quickly wrote down a word.

Honor continued down the list, "place of business…second place of business…animal….funny French name."

This received an, "O la la," from Steph.

Honor laughed, but continued, "…foreign male name…profession…name of horrible song…body part…adjective."

Looking up from her paper, Madeline asked seriously, "What's an adjective?"

Paris let out her typical snort, while Rory held down a giggle and answered, "A word that modifies a noun."

Seeing that Madeline was still looking at her confused, Rory took a breath and tried again, "A word you use to describes something."

"Oh," Madeline exclaimed, and quickly wrote down _pink_.

Honor finished up the list, "…name of someone at bachelorette party…name of a second person at bachelorette party…body part…inexpensive item."

Once they finished writing down their last word, Honor collected everyone's paper. Glancing through them, she found the one she was looking for and announced, "Of course, we'll start with the bachelorette."

Rory muttered, "Thanks."

Honor gave a happy, "Of course," then began…

"_Rory _was having a bachelorette party, but felt _fear_ since it was her last night out with the girls as a free woman! What she really wanted to do was go to _New York Times_ but her friends wanted to go to _a restaurant_.

"Boring!" Juliet yelled, knowing by the way Honor was reading, which were the words that Rory selected.

"What was amazing is that the maid of honor, _Lane_, whose nickname behind her back is _porcupine_ had other plans. When the girls showed up, they were taken by _Lane_ to a fancy hotel called _Michel_. Just then, an exotic male dancer named _Evgeni _came out in an _astronaut_ outfit and started playing _'Mary Jane Shoes' by Fergie _on his stereo. The most memorable time during the evening was watching the dancer move his _hips_ to the music and singing in a _supercalifragilisticexpialidocious_ voice."

"_Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" _Paris exclaimed. "Four years at Yale, graduating with honors, as a Journalism major no less, and that's the adjective you come up with! Why not bellicose or even humdrum!"

"Humdrum?" Bri said laughing, "Please tell me you made that up!"

"It means lacking variety," Paris said in a huff.

"And bellicose?" Steph asked, sure this would have just as real of a definition.

"Hostile, ready to fight," Paris answered.

"So you?" Louise asked innocently.

Seeing that she was going to start arguing, Rory cut in, "Paris, it's a mad lib, you're just supposed to pick fun, random words."

When Paris didn't argue back, Honor continued, "What the bachelorettes' found out later was that _Steph_ was taking pictures with her phone and planned on blackmailing the bachelorette. She did not believe in the statement 'What happens at _Rory_'s bachelorette party stays at the party!' Luckily _Lane _found out and took away the phone, deleting the pictures."

"Go Lane!" Rory and Louise cheered.

"As a consequence they had the dancer place his _foot_ on the blackmailer's lap which disgusted her to the point of her apologizing."

"Wow, foot actually worked," Paris commented.

"Overall, the party was a success and all the girls were given a _coffee_ as a present for celebrating the Last Night Out party!" Honor read, then added, "The end!"

All the girls were chuckling and now wanted to hear more.

"Who's next?" Madeline asked.

"Looks like Rosemary," Honor said, waving the piece of paper Rosemary had given her.

"_Rory _was having a bachelorette party, but felt _elated_ since it was her last night out with the girls as a free woman! What she really wanted to do was go to _Neiman Marcus_ but her friends wanted to go to _Saks 5__th__ Avenue_."

Hearing the two stores that she picked, Juliet exclaimed, "You copied!"

"Did not!" Rosemary argued back.

"Yes you did," Juliet continued, "Honor, look at mine, those are the same stores I had!"

"I was sitting on the other side of the room, how would I have copied?"

This left Juliet silent, allowing Honor to continue.

"What was amazing is that the maid of honor, _Lane_, whose nickname behind her back is _dolphin_ had other plans. When the girls showed up, they were taken by _Lane_ to a fancy hotel called _Guiallaume_. Just then, an exotic male dancer named _Sergei_ came out in a _Lawyer_ outfit and started playing _'Bye Bye Bye' by NSYNC _on his stereo. The most memorable time during the evening was watching the dancer move his _pecs_ to the music and singing in a _firm_ voice."

"Oh I love a guy with nice pecs," Madeline exclaimed.

"I know, they feel so good when you press against them," Steph added.

"You know who had good pecs," Juliet, said seriously, "Finn!"

"He does," Rory said, blushing as she admitted it.

"Ladies!" Honor chided, "We all now know Finn had good pecs; I'm sure none of us better than Bri. Can we continue?"

The girls all blushed, especially Bri, but nodded in response to Honor's question.

"What the bachelorettes' found out later was that _Juliet_ was taking pictures with her phone and planned on blackmailing the bachelorette. She did not believe in the statement 'What happens at _Rory_'s bachelorette party stays at the party!' Luckily _Steph _found out and took away the phone, deleting the pictures. As a consequence they had the dancer place his _teeth_ on the blackmailer's lap…"

"Ohhh," The girls said hearing what turned out to be risqué statement.

"…Which disgusted her to the point of her apologizing. Overall, the party was a success and all the girls were given a _Louis Vuitton purse_ as a present for celebrating the Last Night Out party!

"Louis Vuitton is not inexpensive!" Rory exclaimed.

"It's cheaper than other things, say, a Birkin Bag," Rosemary defended, giving Rory a knowing look. Hearing this, Rory blushed and stopped arguing.

Unfortunately, the infamous brand caught Madeline's attention, "A Birkin bag? You have a Birkin bag!"

"Maybe," Rory said shyly.

"It's pink," Juliet said quickly, filling the other girls in, "Logan bought it for her."

"What was the occasion?" Louise asked.

Rory just shrugged in response, so Steph answered for her, somewhat jealous, "He was just in New York. No birthday, no anniversary, no Christmas. He was just in New York and bought it." Then she muttered, "Stupid Colin doesn't do things like that for me."

"How did he manage that?" Rosemary asked, never hearing that part of the story, and knowing better than to bring up Colin with Steph right now.

"He said that he went into the store a few weeks before he actually bought it and inquired about a pink one. They called him that weekend to let him know they had one," Honor said seriously, "I think there's more to it, because I had to wait 4 months for mine. How Logan got on better terms with the Sales staff there than me, I'll never know."

"We both know he flirted with the saleswoman," Rory said seriously, but her voice lacked any bitterness or jealously.

"But to get a purse that sudden, he'd have to convince the store manager, and she's like 60!" Honor exclaimed.

"And?" Rory asked seriously.

"Oh! Eeeeewwwwwwww!" Honor shrieked.

Rory let out a laugh and said, "I've seen him flirt with **my **Grandmother, to get her to agree with him, I promise you nothing will ever be as disturbing as that."

Once the girls recovered from that image, Honor kept reading through mad libs and after a few more announced, "Okay next is Louise….

"_Rory _was having a bachelorette party, but felt _horny_ since it was her last night out with the girls as a free woman!"

"Because we all know Logan would _never _want to have sex once they're married," Rosemary teased.

"What she really wanted to do was go to a _brothel_ but her friends wanted to go to _a strip club_."

"Seems someone's mind was on sex," Paris commented.

"It's a bachelorette party!" Louise defended.

"What was amazing is that the maid of honor, _Lane_, whose nickname behind her back is _butterfly_ had other plans. When the girls showed up, they were taken by _Lane_ to a fancy hotel called _Marcel_. Just then, an exotic male dancer named _Jarkko _came out in a _doctor's _outfit and started playing_ 'Living on a Prayer' _on his stereo.

"What do you have against _Bon Jovi_" Rory asked, she grew up on some of his music.

Jumping in, Lane couldn't resist, "Come on Rory, Bon Jovi may not be bad, but that song can get old."

"Exactly!" Louise said.

Not wanting to get too distracted, Honor continued, "The most memorable time during the evening was watching the dancer move his _penis_ to the music and singing in a _large _voice. What the bachelorettes' found out later was that _Lane_ was taking pictures with her phone and planned on blackmailing the bachelorette. She did not believe in the statement 'What happens at _Rory_'s bachelorette party stays at the party!' Luckily _Madeline _found out and took away the phone, deleting the pictures. As a consequence they had the dancer place his _biceps_ on the blackmailer's lap which disgusted her to the point of her apologizing. Overall, the party was a success and all the girls were given a _pair of stilettos_ as a present for celebrating the Last Night Out party!

"Who's next?" Rory asked excitedly, thoroughly enjoying this, having heard a few more.

Honor gave a small laugh and looked down to see, "Paris."

"Oh this should be good," Louise said

"_Rory _was having a bachelorette party, but felt _tranquil_ since it was her last night out with the girls as a free woman! What she really wanted to do was go to _Chuck E. Cheese_ but her friends wanted to go to _Capitol Hill_."

"Capitol Hill is not a place of business," Steph argued.

"They have a budget, employees, it's a business," Paris said in a very firm voice, one that people didn't argue with.

Raising an eyebrow at the blonde's sudden change in tone, Honor decided to ignore it and continue reading, "What was amazing is that the maid of honor, _Lane_, whose nickname behind her back is _Barracuda…_

"Barracuda!" Bri exclaimed, hearing it.

"… had other plans. When the girls showed up, they were taken by _Lane_ to a fancy hotel called _Jacques_. Just then, an exotic male dancer named _Pascal _came out in a _cardiologist _outfit and started playing _'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion _on his stereo."

Hearing the last two words Paris had picked, Rory couldn't help but laugh even harder.

"What is so funny Gilmore?" Paris demanded.

"Cardiologist, _My __**Heart**__ Will Go On_," Rory explained while the rest of the girls started laughing too, and Paris rolled her eyes.

"The most memorable time during the evening was watching the dancer move his _ass_ to the music and singing in a _Panglossian_ voice."

"Panglossian means foolishly optimistic and derives from Dr. Pangloss in Voltaire's _Candide_," Paris offered proudly to the group.

"Because when I think optimistic, I think Paris Gellar," Louise joked.

"Shut it," Paris snapped, then gestured for Honor to continue.

"What the bachelorettes' found out later was that _Bri _was taking pictures with her phone and planned on blackmailing the bachelorette. She did not believe in the statement "What happens at _Rory_'s bachelorette party stays at the party!" Luckily _Honor _found out and took away the phone, deleting the pictures. As a consequence they had the dancer place his _coccyx_…"

"Coccyx?" Juliet asked, not sure what this was but knew it sounded dirty.

"It's the scientific name for the bone at the tip of your tailbone," Steph answered before Paris could.

"Thank you!" Paris said, relieved that someone else knew what it was.

Picking up where she left off, Honor, said "…on the blackmailer's lap which disgusted her to the point of her apologizing. Overall, the party was a success and all the girls were given a _pen_ as a present for celebrating the Last Night Out party!"

--

Rory was suddenly drawn out of her very relaxing dream by the shrill of her phone. The last thing she remembered was beginning their third movie of the night, and many drinks before that. Groping with her eyes still shut, her hand found it, and Flipping it open she saw she had a text from Logan, _'What are you wearing?'_

'_Pajamas,'_ Rory replied, slightly confused.

'_Play along Ace!'_

Glancing at her surrounding, Rory got up and made her way to a bedroom that was luckily empty. Locking the door, she slipped on a silk slip she had packed, climbed into the bed and replied, _'My blue silk slip, you like so much'._

'_Mmm…I miss you baby.'_

'_Have you been a good boy?'_

'_Very good.'_

'_Should I reward you?'_

'_Are you drunk?'_

'_Yup, and so are you.'_

'_Guilty.'_

'_But you still think you should get a reward?'_

'_I'll let you do anything you want to me,' _Logan offered.

'_Anything?'_

'_Yes.'_

'_Handcuff you?'_

'_I knew you'd like that!'_

'_I did.'_

'_Yes, you can handcuff me.'_

'_Let me lick you?'_

'_Of course.'_

'_I can touch you anywhere and you couldn't lay a finger on me.'_

'_You're evil.'_

'_You said anything!'_

'_I'm sorry baby, please use my body.'_

'_I wish you were here.'_

'_Me too Ace. I wish I could be there with you, kissing your body.'_

'_Uh huh…'_

'_Sucking your tits.'_

'_Mmm hmm.'_

'_Fingering you, teasing you.'_

'_Oh god.'_

'_Licking your clit.'_

'_I really wish you were here.'_

'_And just when you are about to cum, stop.'_

'_Logan!'_

'_Baby, I want to be in you when you cum.'_

'_I want you in me too,'_ Rory texted and let out a moan. After nearly a minute of no response, she sent, _'Logan? You there?'_

'_Sorry baby, Ben just knocked on my door.'_

'_So…'_

'_To avoid suspicion, I need to go out there.' _

'_You sure?'_

'_As much as it pains me, yes.'_

'_And here I was just going to get naked for you…'_

"_You torture me!'_

'_Goodnight, I'll have to keep myself company without you.'_

'_Tease…I love you Ace.'_

'_Love you too, now go!'_

--

The next morning Rory woke up to a loud noise. She was a bit hazy, forgetting how she ended up in bed, but finally remembered her late night before. She was about to roll over and enjoy a bit more sleep when she smelled coffee. Letting out a groan, she dragged herself out of bed and followed the scent. In the next room, she found Lane, Paris, and Bri eating a light breakfast.

Lane saw her walk in, but she waited until Rory took her first long sip before greeting, "Good morning," in an overly cheerful voice.

Rory glared at her, took another sip and replied, "Morning."

"I got a little breakfast for everyone," Lane said gesturing to the food.

Bri nodded and added, "The pancakes are pretty good."

Rory looked at the food a grabbed a few things to help her mild hangover. Slowly, they were joined by the rest of the girls, who were unusually quiet due to their hangover from the previous night.

They had finished eating a while ago, and were sitting around talking and watching TV, when Paris stood up and faced the group.

"You have two hours to get packed and be ready to go. Dress code is business causal," she said sternly.

Of course, having known her the longest, Louise protested, "There are only two showers, Paris!"

Paris, just rolled her eyes, but remained serious and added, "Starting now."

The group started to scramble, quickly setting a shower schedule with everyone saying they need to make it quick. As they were finally getting dressed, everyone seemed confused about the dress code, but not wanting to argue with Paris, they complied with a minimal number of comments. While they were getting ready, Laura, Seth's wife, showed up. Being pregnant and tired lately, she decided to forgo the party and slumber party the day before, but she wanted to at least do something with the rest of the bachelorette party while Seth was with the boys in Vegas.

They finished getting ready and were all back on the couches, waiting for Paris to explain what they were doing. Paris entered the room, but, instead of joining them on the couch, checked her watch and walked to the door.

She opened it to reveal a doorman who pushed a cart into the room covered in brightly covered fabric. Paris led him further into the room and announced, "Everyone has to pick out at least one scarf to wear." After making the announcement, she picked up a blue silk scarf and tied it into a bow around her neck.

Seeing that she was obviously serious about this, the other girls approached the cart. They found that the scarves were made of all kinds of fabrics, most of them brightly colored and bordering on tacky. Rory picked a brown and green shinny one and tied it around her waist like a belt, which, luckily for her, didn't look to bad since she was wearing a dark red skirt and cream shirt. Lane wore some of the brightest colored ones, thinking they were fun, one as a belt and one in her hair, while Laura wrapped hers around her neck like a more traditional scarf. Honor, Bri, and Steph each found something to wear without much protest as did Rosemary, being around Finn enough had taught all of them that sometimes it was easier to just go along with it and not ask questions.

This left Louise, Juliet, and Madeline staring at the pile, not having made much of a move towards picking something.

Tapping her foot, not happy to be waiting, Paris asked, "Is there a problem?"

"None of them match my skirt," Juliet said as if the idea of not matching was a felony, and pointed to her burnt orange skirt with white flowers to emphasize her point.

"You have to pick something," Paris scolded them.

"Paris, have you seen this. I think its polyester!" Louise said, holding up the offending garment like it was toxic, while looking desperately for something to match her sage green shirt.

"We aren't going to a fashion show," Paris retorted, but seeing the disbelief on the girls faces finally added, "And I promise, there won't be any guys where we are going."

Madeline seemed convinced when she heard this, and slowly picked through the scarves before settling on a very bright pink and orange one, which while tacky, could have been worse with her black pants and light blue shirt.

Louise on the other hand, hadn't quite given in so easily, "It's a crime against fashion, against who I am as a person," and turned to Juliet to see her nodding in agreement, all the while eying a blue, brown, and gold striped scarf as if it may actually harm her.

"It's only for the afternoon, it won't kill you," Paris pointed out, now getting frustrated.

"It might," Louise muttered.

Sending both girls one final glare, she said, "Put one on or you're not coming!"

Sensing that Paris was not about to budge on the issue, they relented. Louise finally settled on a brown one with dark green and fuchsia polka-dots and Juliet picked a bright blue, purple, and yellow one, both without any more complaints.

Seeing that everyone was finally dressed, Paris faced them all and said, "Now that we're all ready…"

But before she could finish, Louise asked, "How come yours is just blue? That's not as bad as the rest!"

"I planned it so I got to pick."

"That's not fair!" Juliet exclaimed.

"Life's not fair."

"But…" Louise started.

"Stop! No more questions. We're all dressed so we're leaving," she commanded. The group followed her down into the lobby and then out into a waiting limo. They rode for a few minutes through New York before finally coming to a stop.

As Rory was getting out, she looked up at the name of the building and read _Alice's Tea Cup_, but only really saw the word tea and was confused as to why Paris would bring her for tea. She knew about Rory's coffee addiction better than anyone other than Lorelai or Logan, after living with her in college. It was only this tea crisis that kept Rory's keen inner-reporter from figuring out what was going on.

They walked into the building, and after stopping for a minute for Paris to talk to a woman by the door, Paris led the group to a door in back. When she reached it, she stopped, grabbed the handle, and waited until everyone was gathered around her. Then, she opened the door and said, "Welcome to Rory's un-bachelorette party."

As the girls walked into the room, they were completely engulfed into the world of _Alice in Wonderland_. The walls were decorated with large playing cards and colorful flowers. From the ceiling hung all types of light fixtures, and hats of all styles littered the room.

As the girls looked around the room, they noticed a long table with mismatched china and silverware at each place setting and a variety of just as mismatched high back chairs. Paris gestured for Rory to sit at the head of the table in an almost throne-like chair.

This is when Rory noticed the top hat Paris had put on, complete with the 10/6 card tucked into the side. Rory let out a small laugh and exclaimed, "You're the Mad Hatter?"

"You should know by now that if I do something, I do it all the way," Paris explained.

"Thank you," Rory said sincerely and hugged her friend.

All the other girls heard Rory's outburst and looked at Paris. Seeing that she was telling Rory to sit, they all found seats as well.

As they sat around the table, they noticed that their cups were already filled, but on closer inspection saw the tea cups had champagne in them, while the wine glasses had what appeared to be tea in them, both cups labeled with the words _Drink Me_. On the table were platters of bite size sandwiches held together with toothpicks holding a pickle to the outside, flagged with the words _Eat Me_ and chicken salad on bread with avocados on top, held with the same toothpicks. In the center of the table, a large cake in the shape of a hat was situated, decorated just as colorfully as any of the scarves the girls were wearing. The girls had some of the food and drinks on the table, but also kept noticing new things around the room and talking about it all. Even Madeline, Louise, and Juliet had gotten over their fashion crisis and were enjoying themselves.

Once they finished eating, the girls talked for a bit before Paris brought out two decks of cards. Rory saw these and said, "You know I'm bad at cards."

"I promise this isn't like regular cards."

"If you promise," Rory muttered.

Paris then gave the floor over to Honor to explain the game, because when Honor originally explained it said that it would be perfect for this afternoon. When Lane had contacted everyone about the weekend, and Steph had volunteered to organize dinner, she thought that Honor and Paris would want to help as well. So after calling them, it was decided that Steph would plan dinner Saturday night, Paris this afternoon, while Lane took care of the slumber party as well as all the miscellaneous details, and put Honor in charge of finding games they could play.

Honor stood up, now understanding why Paris had liked the game for this afternoon, and quickly got to explaining the game, "Everyone will get 5 cards. After the cards are dealt, the dealer will roll 5 dice. Whatever the dice adds up to will be the target number for that hand. Everyone then has to use 3 cards from their hand to try and add up to the same number that the dice added up to without going over. Cards are worth their value, aces 1, jacks 11, and kings 12. Queens are wild, but the queen of hearts beats everything.

"Everyone will start with five chips, and each hand the person closest without going over gets another chip. If you get the exact number you get two chips, but if you do go over, you lose one. The winner of each hand also gets to pick a question, which you need to keep fun, that everyone has to answer. There are gifts for everyone, but we will be picking in the order we finished in the game."

Everyone decided that it was a simple enough game, and soon enough the first hand was dealt and dice rolled. The number to reach was 19, and this resulted in 4 girls losing a chip and Steph getting closest with a 17.

Thinking for a minute, she finally asked, "Least favorite color?"

Multiple people could be heard saying brown, along with random colors like olive green, pink, and orange.

The next hand was won by Honor who asked, "Dream vacation spot?"

This time there was a little bit longer of a silence before the replies started, consisting of Hawaii, London, Venice, and other places throughout Europe, but there were also two very unique answers of Fez and Mali.

Lane, hearing Rory say Fez, asked, "Logan hasn't taken you there yet?"

"Nope," said Rory with a smile.

Bri on the other hand had to ask, "Mali?"

"What," Steph defended, "I've never been there, and this way, I could actually say I've been to Timbuktu," causing the girls to laugh as they waited for the next hand to be dealt.

They played for a while, enjoying themselves and having to answer some bizarre and funny questions. They eventually stopped to have some cake. Once they finished eating, they left the party and headed back into the limo, but were surprised when they saw that they weren't going back to the hotel. When everyone looked at Paris curiously, she just said, "One more stop."

This time the limo stopped in front of an art shop. Walking in, they were again led to a long table, this time with a wide variety of art supplies on it.

Paris announced, "Now, as a _gift_ to Rory to commemorate her un-bachelorette party. We will be making her a set of cups and saucers."

Rory couldn't resist muttering, "Are you back to having an arts and crafts corner again," loud enough that she knew all the girls would hear her.

Paris actually laughed lightly at the reference, but seriously replied, "No, but I have been thinking about restarting it, Med school is stressful."

This only made Rory laugh more, but the girls finally calmed down when a worker came over to explain how they would be made, and they were excited to find out they could make different shaped cups.

When the woman was finished with the instructions, Paris added, "The only rules are to make them colorful."

The girls nodded, but Steph chimed in, "I think we should all have at least one thing on it that reminds you of either Rory or Logan or them together."

They all enjoyed making the shape of cups they wanted, but when they got to the decorating, the real fun started.

They hadn't been working long when Rory saw what Madeline was painting, causing her to look confused. Not sure what to say to the red design she saw on the cup, tentatively asked, "Madeline, you do know I went to Yale right."

"Of course," Madeline said with a giggle, "I'm not stupid!"

Hearing this, the other girls looked at her cup, with Steph asking, "But those are Harvard colors and you're painting an _H_."

"Yeah," Madeline said as if it was obvious, "all Rory talked about in high school was going to Harvard." Seeing the skeptical look on everyone's face, she added, "I'm doing the other half in Yale colors," which made them all feel better and get back to work.

Honor had painted a multicolored background on her cup and was busy adding small pink and red hearts. She knew the cup was supposed to be crazy, and it was colorful, but she wanted to put love on it somehow. She was thinking about how much her brother had changed since Rory came into his life and took a small break to look around. It was then that she noticed they were all taking the color rule to heart, and she couldn't help saying, "Rory, I need you to promise me two things."

Rory looked confused at the random request, but asked, "And they are?"

"One, that you serve my mother and your grandmother with these cups," Honor said, with an amused look in her eye.

Rory and the rest of the girls couldn't help but laugh just thinking about their reaction, so she settled on giving Honor a nod. Seeing this, Honor continued, "And two, I'm there to see it."

This request made Rory laugh even harder, but manage to get out, "Deal."

With a satisfied smile, Honor went back to her cup, adding a glittered glaze on top commenting on how it would make it, "Extra manly for Logan."

Finally, all the girls were finished, and they could look at the different cups. Rory saw one had an umbrella and tent painted on it which Steph said was hers. Next to that was Rosemary's cup which she decorated with a black and white stripped background, on top of which were a few martini glasses.

Curious Bri asked, "What's the story there?"

Smiling Rory said, "After the yacht incident, Logan decided to throw me a felon party."

"A felon party?" Lane asked, not having heard about this, "What's that?"

"You see, after you get arrested for the first time, you get thrown a party to celebrate the achievement," Paris answered in a serious, but sarcastic voice, then added, "We were so proud."

Ignoring Paris's rant, Rosemary jumped in and gave the real answer, "Logan rented out this bar and had everyone dress up in pinstripes. It was also the night Rory discovered espresso martinis," causing the group to laugh.

Rosemary continued her story, "It was a lot of fun, but it was also around the time I started to really get to know Rory and finally see why she was so good for Logan."

Next to that was a beach themed cup Louise had done, covered with a sun, beach ball, and even a bikini.

Seeing the bikini Rory laughed, "I still can't believe you talked me into buying that."

"Neither can I," Louise said truthfully.

"You actually got Rory to buy a bikini?" Lane asked surprised, not even sure Lorelai had accomplished that feat. "A real bikini?"

"String bikini. We ran into her and Paris spring break of freshman year," Louise explained, gesturing to herself and Madeline as she said it, "And she was down at the pool in a one piece."

"It was sad," Madeline added, nodding her head with the story.

"So one day, I got her to the store and told her she had to pick out a bikini or I would do it for her."

"I only picked one so you would stop bugging me about it," Rory explained.

"Did you ever wear it?" Steph asked curious.

"Not that spring break," Rory answered.

"Well that was a waste," Louise huffed.

"Actually, I did wear it eventually," Rory confessed.

"Really?" Louise asked, sounding more excited.

"The first time I wore it was on spur of the moment brigade trip with Logan."

"In front of people?" Lane asked surprised.

"We were staying in a condo with a private outdoor hot tub," Rory explained, knowing she would never have been bold enough to wear it in public for the first time.

"Well at least it was used eventually," Louise said, then muttered, "took long enough."

They came to Lane's next, who jumped in before anyone could ask. "I know, it has tons of different things, but I couldn't decide," she rambled. "The gavel is for when the town put Logan on trial, the lips and drums are for you guys making out at my concert, and the records and tiara are for all the times we played dress up when we were younger."

Hearing the variety of items, Rory couldn't help but smile at all the memories it gave her. Next was Honor's cup, followed by Juliet's which was London themed, complete with Big Ben and all.

Seeing Laura's cup, Paris said, "They haven't had their wedding yet."

Laura laughed and said, "I know, but these are memories from my wedding."

"How does that work?" Lane asked.

"Well, Logan was fortunate enough to catch my garter when Seth threw it. The funny part was next when I went to throw my bouquet, Steph here actually pushed girls out of the way to make sure no one but Rory caught it."

"What?" Steph defended, "I didn't want him putting the garter on anyone else's leg."

Hearing that, Laura admitted, "We weren't going to have them do that. We figured that we'd just have them share a dance, but when it was Logan and Rory, Seth and the guys quickly changed the rules."

Laughing at this, Steph replied, "Seeing how red Rory turned, it was worth it."

Embarrassed just remembering that night, Rory exclaimed, "He DID NOT need to put it that high on my leg. People probably thought he was doing something inappropriate!"

Still laughing, Steph said, "Just be happy that he didn't decide to put in on with his teeth."

This left all the girls laughing, for a minute before looking at the next cup. In all truth, it was the most peculiar cup on the table, and no one was surprised to find out it was Paris's. Rory looked at it for a few minutes trying to figure out the connection. Finally, she gave up and asked, "A whale?"

"I told you, you landed the whale. You're Annette Bening," Paris said, repeating words from years earlier, only this time with a smile.

Rory laughed at the crazy reference, but asked, "And the suns?"

Paris smiled again and sung, "We're walking on sunshine."

Rory had to laugh again, remembering the normally reserved Paris walking around their dorm singing into a hairbrush. Next was Madeline's completed Yale/Harvard cup, which actually turned out well and made Rory think of two very different times in her life. Next was Bri's, who went with an office theme. She had coffee cups, seeing as how they were both addicted, a camera, a notepad, a newspaper, and even a computer. Rory could see Bri's artistic side had come out, and was amazed at how well the drawings were done.

Finally, they reached the last cup. Seeing it, Honor asked Rory, "What's your story."

"For spring break Logan's senior year, the group went a villa in Cannes, Southern France. The second day there, I got sunburned. We were supposed to go out to a dinner, just the two of us, but I didn't even think I could move, and I felt so bad because I'm usually so good about remembering sunblock, and I knew he was looking forward to it.

"Well when I came in, I was so tired and fell asleep. When I woke up, I saw the room had candles and flowers all over it, Logan told me to go get in the bath he made, promising that it would help relieve the burn. I walked into the bathroom to see a bubble bath, testing the water felt it was fairly hot, but got in slowly anyways. It burned at first, but soon enough it started to feel so much better. He came in a little later carrying two glasses of champagne, handed one to me before getting in the tub with me. He told me to relax and we just sat together enjoying the moment.

"When we finally got out, he gave me a robe to put on, so nothing would rub my burn, and he led me outside onto the balcony. Then I saw that he set up a small table with more champagne and dinner. We ate and watched the sunset."

By this point, Rory had all the girls letting out small _Awws_, as they saw a sunset, bubbles, and champagne glasses and bottle on Rory's tea cup. Rory for her part was lost in the memories, and finally added, "That night, when I couldn't sleep, I thought about him and how much I would miss him when he was in London, how close we had become. It was the night that I realized I wanted to marry him."

This made the girls fuss even more. Rory was fine with sharing the story, but now wanted to focus on something else. Looking back down the table at the cups, she said, "There are only 11."

Surprised by the sudden question, the rest of the girls were quickly drawn back to reality, while Paris easily replied, "What kind of un-tea set would it be if there was an even number."

Rory had to laugh at the logic. Soon enough, the girls were leaving, the un-tea set packaged for the trip. They all got in the limo, which took them back to the hotel. Once in their room, Honor gathered everyone, saying it was time to select their prizes from the card game earlier. Showing the different items to choose from the girls quickly noticed they were all related to _Alice in Wonderland_, most were hand blown glass figurines of various characters from the movie, but there were also other items.

Honor stood back in front of the group and said, "The winner is Laura!" causing the rest of the girls to applaud. She went up to the table containing the prizes and chose the glass White Rabbit, saying it would be perfect for the baby's room.

Rory had come in second, and walked up to look at the various prizes. After a minute had passed, Paris said, "It's not rocket science, just pick one."

Rory laughed at her friend and reasoned, "I want something that's symbolic."

"Just pick something!" Paris huffed.

"Fine," Rory said and selected a Tweedledee and Tweedledum figure.

"What possible symbolism does that have?" Rosemary asked, curious.

Rory shrugged and offered, "Finn and Colin," which caused the girls to laugh.

Madeline was next bad chose a vanity mirror.

"What does that have to do with _Alice in Wonderland_?" Juliet asked.

"She falls through a mirror, but a full size one would be too big," Paris explained.

Paris finished fourth and picked the Mad Hatter figure saying, "To commemorate my role today."

"Are you being sentimental?" Louise teased.

"Drop it," Paris snapped and sat down.

Next, Honor picked a basket containing the book and movie versions of _Alice_.

Seeing her selection, Rory asked surprised, "You don't have the book?"

"Nope," Honor said happily.

"All the books in the Huntzberger library, and no Lewis Carroll?" Rory said shocked.

"Not that I've seen, but besides, that's the Huntzberger library, this is for the Ramsay library. Need to make sure your nieces and nephews are well read."

Getting excited, Rory started, "Are you…"

"No," Honor cut in, "Not right now anyways, I'm just saying in the future."

"Good plan," Rory said with a smile.

Steph had finished next, and after a short internal debate, she chose the Alice figurine, smiling and saying, "We blondes need to stick together!"

Lane picked the Queen of Hearts, which made Rory inquire, "The queen?"

"Look at her dress, it's so funky and colorful, and the slit up the middle, not Mama Kim approved."

"Married and still trying to rebel," Rosemary said with proud hint in her voice.

"Of course," Lane said proudly.

Next, Louise excitedly chose the Cheshire Cat.

"Happy to get that?" Bri asked, slightly confused.

"Yup, I was hoping no one would take it before my turn," Louise answered.

"Why?" Rory asked, "I never took you as a cat person."

"I'm not," Louise said, "But look at his face, you can just tell he's about to cause trouble," which caused the girls to laugh knowing Louise's ability to cause trouble.

The bottom three included Bri who selected a diary and key.

"Need to spill some secrets about Finn?" Honor joked.

"No," Bri said while blushing slightly, "But I figured Maddy could use it one day."

Juliet chose a mantle clock, leaving a basket of various teas and a tea pot for Rosemary.

Seeing only one gift left and knowing it was for her, Rosemary got up and sighed dramatically, "Hmmm, what should I choose. So many choices…"

"Well we all know how much Rory _loves_ tea, I bet you she'd trade you," Bri joked.

At this suggestion, Rory pretended to look horrified, and clutched her figurine tightly. This set the girls into a fit of laughter as Rosemary picked up the basket and sat back down.

--

Sunday morning, Finn, to the surprise of everyone in attendance, woke them up at 7:30 a.m.

Looking at his former best friend, Logan questioned, "Why are we up?"

Looking unusually excited, given the hour, Finn answered, "We have an appointment at 9:00 sharp."

Cutting in Brett asked, "You, the sun-phobic, planned something before noon?"

Finn kept his face stoic, while saying dramatically, "I wouldn't have, I swear, but it is an all day activity, and if we wanted to do it, we have to get an early start."

Jonathan looked skeptical and muttered, "It better be some activity."

Finn just smiled and poured himself a large mug of coffee.

Again, the guys found themselves ready to leave slightly ahead of schedule, but piled into the limo nonetheless. Soon they were arriving at, what looked like, a large office. No one asked any questions, but followed Finn who was being directed down a long hallway. They walked until it led to a classroom, complete with desks, a chalk board, and overhead projector. The group gave Finn another confused look, but followed suit when he took a seat.

Just when someone was finally going to ask a question, two very official looking people entered the room, and commanded their attention. Almost immediately, the guy took the spot in the center of the room, and began, "My name is Russ, and this is Karen, and we will be your instructors for your session today at the American Racing Academy…"

Hearing this, the guys all gave a cheer, while some slapped Finn on the back.

Once the cheering stopped, Russ continued, "Today, we will be teaching you how to maintain and drive Indy cars…"

From there, Russ and Karen gave an overview on both Indy car mechanics and racing. Next, they gave an explanation of how pit crew's work and what they do before finally talking about driving.

Before they knew it 2 1/2 hours had passed, and the guys were given a short break where they could grab some food. When they were done and had regrouped, they were led from the classroom to garage area large enough to hold 15-20 cars. In the back of the room, an Indy car was lifted up on jacks, and it was to this car that they were led.

Turning to face the group, Russ grinned and said, "Now before we get to driving, you're going to have to perform a pit change."

"What exactly do we have to do?" Josh asked.

"Change four tires as fast as you can," Russ said simply, then added, "Karen will give you a quick demonstration."

The next thing the guys saw was Karen standing next to the car, impact wrench in hand, and a guy over her shoulder holding a stop watch. When the man barked _Go_, she quickly started removing the bolts. As soon as they last one dropped to the floor a guy came to remove the tire, and a second guy was rolling in the replacement. It seemed almost instantaneous that Karen was back in position and drilling the bolts back into place.

When she finished, the guy glanced at his watch and said, "9.2 seconds, not bad."

The group of guys were just standing in awe, while Ethan whispered, "That was so hot!"

Karen rolled her eyes, but handed the wrench to one of the mechanics standing nearby, and asked, "Think you can beat that?"

The guys wisely, remained silent, but were soon broken into teams by Russ and each was briefly instructed by a mechanic on how to use the equipment. They all got a chance to remove and replace the bolts and were surprised at how smooth the wrench worked.

While everyone seemed excited to be using the equipment and seemed to get the hang of it, Colin was on his fifth failed attempt to remove the bolt, "I don't see why you all want to do this. It's manual labor."

Logan laughed at him saying, "You're just mad because you got beat by a girl."

"Because you're faster?" Colin shot back.

"That's not what I said," Logan defended.

"So, you got beat too!" Colin argued.

"Yes, she was faster, of course she is, she's a pro," Logan said simply.

Before he could finish, Anthony jumped in and added, "**But**, we can at least do it. **You** on the other hand, seem to be deficient."

Colin just glared at his friends, and turned back to the bolt, more determined than bore. After three more tries the bolt could be heard falling onto the ground, followed closely by Colin exclaiming, "Yes!"

Before he could get too excited, the mechanic that had been instructing him chuckled and said, "Okay now put it back."

Once their practice was over, it was announced that their pit change would begin. Again, the man standing at the front of the car gave the _Go_ that sent the guys into action. At first, the only sound heard was the high powered wrenches as the guys started removing the bolts.

Suddenly a loud, "Shit!" was heard.

"What happened?" Seth asked concerned.

"I just got grease all over my shoes," Ethan complained.

This brought all the guys to a halt. Slowly, Austin asked, "You're shoes? As in, the things on your feet?"

"Yes my shoes! These are brand new Prada shoes!"

"Steph?" Jonathan said, waving his hands in front of Ethan and asked, "When did you perform your own Face/Off with Ethan?"

When Ethan didn't say anything, Jonathan knocked lightly on his head and whispered, "Steph, I know you're in there, it will be okay."

Ethan still remained silent, so Finn walked over and gave him a hug and said, "Don't worry kitten, Colin will still love you."

"Ewww!" "Gross!" Ethan and Colin exclaimed at the same time.

This caused the rest of the guys to start laughing, and Ethan to go back to staring unamused at the group of guys, "You're not funny."

"Oh, I think he was plenty funny," Finn offered with a grin.

"Just because…" Ethan started.

"One minute!" came the call from man timing them.

This seemed to refocus the guys, but as they went back to work, Ethan said, "Don't think we're finished!"

As they continued, muttering could be constantly heard as the guys removed the screws.

"What are you doing? That's not how it goes," Josh corrected, and started showing Ben how to reposition the new tire.

At nearly the same time, Seth cried, "Finn, why do you have a steering wheel?"

"It's round and easier to put on," Finn said seriously, as he put in a bolt and hung the steering wheel off it, and exclaimed, "All done! We win!"

Seth just rolled his eyes, removed it, before gesturing for Brett to bring him the replacement tire, and the two worked to reattach it. Finally, all four tires, we're reattached.

"5 minutes and 11 seconds, gentleman."

"So how do we rank?" Logan asked.

Russ shook his head and said, "Most of our groups finish in 3-4 minutes, but I did have a group recently that clocked in at almost 7 minutes…"

"Ha!" Finn exclaimed.

"…It was a group of middle aged women," he finished.

"Well if we wouldn't have had members of our team acting like girls, and freaking out over their **shoes**, maybe we would have done better," Austin said, looking at Ethan.

Hoping to get them focused again, Karen chided, "And if you don't stop bickering like women, you'll never make it out to the track."

This efficiently shut the guys up about shoes, but as they followed Karen and Russ, they started a completely new argument.

"Of course I'll drive well," Colin said as if any other outcome was absurd, "I lived in Germany, do you know how much time I spent driving the Autobahn?"

Seth rolled his eyes and said, "They don't drive as fast as people think."

"Besides these are Indy cars, they'll drive different than any sports car you've had," Ben pointed out.

"What about you, how do you think you'll do?" Anthony asked Logan.

"I like to drive fast, you all know that," Logan replied with a smirk.

"So does the Connecticut State Police," Josh muttered.

Logan glared at his brother-in-law, "Honor has a big mouth," then turned the question back on him, "And what about you?"

Josh gave an impassive smile and said, "I think I'll do alright."

From there, all sorts of questions got asked, "How fast do you think we'll go?" "What kind of course will it be?" "Do we get to race each other"…

They reached the track, and again Russ started their next set of instructions, "Gentlemen, first of all, no you will not be racing…"

This resulted in the sound of disappointment, so Russ continued, "But to end your day, everyone will get timed doing 5 laps, and given an official time," which caused the guys to look even more excited.

Russ held in a laugh at the group of stereotypical competitive guys, and continued, "But before we get there you have a lot to learn…"

--

"I can't believe you won!" Austin whined, for what seemed like millionth time.

"You've mentioned that," Josh said dryly.

"I mean seriously, out of everyone…"

"And what happened to you Seth?" Logan asked, wanting to direct the conversation off of his usually quiet brother-in-law, "I would have expected more from you. What went wrong? Miscalculate the optimal turn radius?"

Seth laughed, "This is why I design things, not use them."

"We can analyze Seth's turning once we're on the plane, but right now, we need to keep moving to get ahead of the storm," Finn said, draping his arms around Logan and Seth as he hurried them to the waiting limo.

--

"Scoot over," Logan whispered. When Logan finally got home from the airport, he walked into the bedroom to find Rory sprawled across their bed asleep, wearing one of his shirts. He had called her from the airstrip in Vegas, letting her know they wouldn't be landing until late and not to worry, he would catch a ride home with Finn. So now he had a very cute and comforting scene in front of him, a scene he wanted to join, but his first plea got no response. Deciding to try again, he said slightly louder, "Ace, scoot over."

"Logan," she mumbled sleepily, but rolled over when she did, allowing Logan to slide into bed and kiss her neck.

Settling in behind her, he wrapped his arm around her and whispered, "Yeah."

"What time is it?"

"Almost 2, go back to sleep."

"You're late."

"There were some storms we had to fly around," he explained.

In her hazy state she asked, "Did you have fun?"

"I did."

"Strippers?"

"There was a close call when Finn started undoing his pants," Logan replied seriously.

"Too sleepy for jokes," Rory whined.

Logan laughed at her half-conscious state, "No strippers."

"Good," she yawned, and snuggled closer into his side.

"What about you, strippers?"

Rory shook her head against his chest then said, "Drag queens."

"Lucky Cheng's," Logan said surprised, then grinned, "Did you get a lap dance?"

"Too scary, said I'd kill them," Rory incoherently answered.

Logan laughed lightly, imagining Rory downright refusing. "Anything else happen?"

"Tea cups…shock Shira…"

"What?" he asked, now more confused, but highly curious. Getting no response, he looked down to see Rory was back asleep. Knowing he'd have to wait until morning to hear the rest of the story, Logan kissed her once more before following her into sleep.

--

A/N: Okay this is going to have two parts: first about updates and second about the chapter.

I apologize for not updating for so long, and besides doing that, I don't have much else I can say. Moving, work, and life got crazy and finding time to write was hard. And for a while, when I did find time to write, it was bad (ask Christi, she'll tell you, it sucked), and we refused to publish something that wasn't up to this fic's standards. I recently got back into my stride, and although it took a bit longer than before, the writing was back on track. So while I'm sure many have given up on this story, I am still working. I'm not going to tell you what you can or cannot say in reviews, but you really don't have to yell at me for the lack of updates, I know, and like I said, I'm sorry about that. Everyone who has received review replies lately, or read the updates on the blog should thank Christi because she's stayed up on that for me! Also thank her for pestering me CONSTANTLY and not letting me give up. We both really do love this fic, but when I was getting so frustrated with writing that I wanted to scream, she made me keep writing :)

Now onto the chapter, first I'm going to apologize. I know how long it's been since an update and you're probably are all ready to kill me because this doesn't have much R/L action and isn't my favorite in the fic, but this chapter has been planned for this point for a long time and as much as I hate this being the chapter you get after all this time, I can't really move it either. So sorry! Besides that, I hope you enjoyed it because there are a few scenes we really like AND Go Redwings!

B/N: For the mad libs part, Lynn asked me all the questions, and I choose all the words given the character of the girl in question. And…the names of the exotic male dancers were one of the mad libs choices the girls had to make (a foreign male name). So, if you can figure out the connection between the four names, you get extra credit! (PS. Boo Redwings!)


End file.
